UC-NRLF 


503 


educational  fttonograpl)3 

*  EDITED  BY  HENRY  SUZZALLO 

PROFESSOR   OP  THE   PHILOSOPHY  OP   EDUCATION 
TEACHERS  COLLEGE,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 
IN  THE  GRADES 


BY 


ALICE  WOODWORTH  COOLEY 

'  »» 

LATE  ASSISTANT   PROFESSOR  OF   EDUCATION 
UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH   DAKOTA 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON,   NEW   YORK  AND  CHICAGO 

Cbc  ttitorriiDc  prcgg  Camfaribge 


COPYRIGHT,  1913,  BY  HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


CONTENTS 

EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION v 

I.  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING      i 

II.  THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE  AS  THE  BASIS 

OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING 5 

III.  SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  IN  THE  USE 

OF  LITERATURE  FOR  LANGUAGE  TRAINING    2  5 

IV.  THE  GROUP-PLAN  OF  COOPERATIVE  LES- 

SON UNITS 49 

V.  TRAINING  TO  HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT 

FORMS 67 

VI.  THE  USE  OF  TEXTBOOKS 85 

OUTLINE 87 


266936 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

THE  common  schools  are  becoming  interested 
in  literary  expression  for  the  first  time.  On  first 
reading,  such  a  statement  seems  absurdly  un- 
true to  the  history  of  elementary  instruction. 
Yet  an  analysis  of  our  pedagogical  development 
confirms  the  claim.  It  is  true  that  the  earliest 
activities  of  our  older  schools  were  exclusively 
associated  with  language  and  literature;  and  that 
for  centuries  the  materials  of  education  remained 
dominantly  linguistic.  Nevertheless  the  tradi- 
tional school  was  not  interested  in  literary  ex- 
pression, or  anything  closely  approximating  it. 
The  study  of  language  was  formal  rather  than 
literary ;  it  was  devised  to  teach  children  to  un- 
derstand in  an  abstract  way  the  formalities  of 
spelling,  grammar,  and  rhetoric,  rather  than  to 
lead  them  into  a  sincere  expression  of  their  own 
lives  through  the  medium  of  the  art-forms  of 
speech  and  written  language. 

Two  and  a  half  centuries  of  American  schools 
did  not  rectify  the  narrowness  and  the  false  em- 
phasis of  our  traditions  in  language  teaching.  To 
be  sure  there  was,  here  and  there,  some  tinkering 
with  the  course  of  study  and  methods  of  teach- 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

ing ;  but  it  was  not  a  reform  of  the  spirit  of  the 
schoolmaster,  only  a  slight  modification  in  his 
manners.  It  took  a  quarter-century  of  pedagog- 
ical rebellion  to  break  the  monopoly  of  formal- 
mindedness  in  language  instruction.  Now  a  few 
teachers  at  least  have  a  sane  theory  of  the  rela- 
tion of  language  and  literature  to  life  in  school  or 
out.  Even  among  the  rank  and  file  it  is  no  longer 
fashionable  to  speak  of  the  language  studies  as 
formal  subjects.  They  are  vital  rather  than  for- 
mal, because  they  are  based  on  the  child's  own 
experiences  and  terminate  in  the  expression  and 
solution  of  his  own  problems.  Reading,  penman- 
ship, spelling,  grammar,  and  rhetoric  are  not  re- 
garded as  disciplines  pursuing  independent  ends. 
Their  kinship  is  recognized  through  their  com- 
mon contribution  to  oral  and  written  expression 
and  to  literature.  Reading  and  literature  have 
become  one  study,  the  function  of  which  is  to 
appreciate  life  beyond  immediate  sense  contact. 
And  spelling,  grammar,  and  rhetoric  have  been 
reduced  to  the  position  of  occasional  aids  to  writ- 
ing. Surely  these  changes  are  symptomatic  of  an 
altered  conception  of  schoolteaching. 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  the  oldest  of  the 
school  subjects,  language  study,  should  be  the 
last  to  catch  the  spirit  of  modern  teaching.  It  has 
had  more  centuries  of  fixation  to  undo  than  man- 
ual training,  nature  study,  and  the  graphic  arts, 
vi 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

Its  sins  were  old  enough  to  be  antiques,  and  there- 
fore likely  to  command  that  traditional  reverence 
which  prevents  their  correction  through  rational 
standards  of  criticism.  But  the  time  has  come 
when  the  lateral  influence  of  the  newer  school 
subjects,  which  emphasize  self-expression  in  terms 
of  use  and  beauty,  is  great  enough  to  overcome 
the  downward  pressure  of  the  tradition  of  for- 
malism. It  begins  to  be  apparent  to  us  that  an 
understanding  of  language  is  given  to  children 
for  the  purpose  of  aiding  expression,  just  as  their 
knowledge  of  woods,  tools,  plants,  and  soils  is  in- 
tended as  a  guide  to  useful  action  in  industry  and 
agriculture.  The  expressive  function  of  language 
teaching  is  its  dominant  one.  To  the  extent  that 
literature  widens  the  horizons  of  human  experi- 
ence and  gives  it  significant  interpretation,  it 
modifies  the  substance  of  the  child's  thought  and 
feeling ;  to  the  extent  that  it  suggests  an  effect- 
ive and  congenial  manner  of  voicing  the  needs 
of  life,  it  will  give  command  over  the  forms  of  ef- 
fective and  winsome  expression.  Thus  language 
study  becomes,  what  it  normally  is  with  people 
out  of  school,  a  virile,  broadening,  and  useful 
pursuit. 

The  difficulty  with  most  teachers  is  that  they 

cannot  see  how  their  newer  ideals  of  language 

teaching  are  to  be  worked  out  in  detailed  methods. 

They  are  impatient  enough  with  the  scholastic 

vii 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

ceremonial  of  parsing  and  other  exercises  which 
distract  from  literary  understanding.  In  spite  of 
themselves  they  suspect  that  rules  of  grammar 
only  impede  expression.  Yet  they  do  not  know 
what  new  methods  of  teaching  they  ought  to  sub- 
stitute for  those  familiar  to  them.  In  want  of  con- 
crete aid,  they  follow  the  line  of  least  resistance, 
which  is  tradition.  We  need  to  reconstruct  more 
than  the  philosophy  of  language  teaching ;  we 
must  rebuild  its  practice.  This  volume,  with  its 
clear  statement  of  theory  and  its  wealth  of  prac- 
tical suggestions,  is  offered  as  an  aid  to  both 
ends. 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING  IN 
THE  GRADES 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

Language  as  communicated  thought 

LANGUAGE  is  communicated  thought.  Clear,  defi- 
nite thought  and  its  clear,  direct  expression  are 
inseparable.  To  know  the  thoughts  of  another 
is  to  know  his  lift. 

The  teaching  of  no  other  subject  is  so  vitally 
wrapped  up  in  the  gospel  of  life  as  is  the  teach- 
ing of  the  so-called  language  group  of  studies 
(reading,  language  lessons,  writing,  spelling,  dic- 
tation, oral  and  written  composition,  and,  later, 
grammar  and  rhetoric).  For  this  reason,  cold, 
formal  treatment  of  these  studies  is  most  dead- 
ening in  its  effect. 

Language  as  self -expression 

The  speech  of  one  who  talks  much  and  says 
little  is  but  "as  sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling 
cymbal,"  though  every  word  be  correctly  used  and 
every  sentence  faultless  in  construction.  Fluency 
and  precision  of  speech  may  be  gained  at  the  ex- 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

pense  of  language  power.  It  clearly  follows  that 
instructing  children  in  the  use  of  language  forms 
is  not  the  vital  part  of  language  teaching.  True 
language  training  is  giving  skill  in  self-expres- 
sion :  the  expression  of  the  individual's  own  ex- 
periences, —  his  own  thoughts,  his  own  feelings, 
his  own  way  of  looking  at  things ;  skill  in  express- 
ing them  in  terms  of  simplicity,  sincerity,  and 
effectiveness.  To  teach  language  is  to  rouse, 
stimulate,  and  guide  a  twofold  activity  in  the  pu- 
pil :  (i)  thinking;  (2)  giving  his  thought  to  others. 

Two  requisite  conditions 

Even  the  necessary  practice  exercises  for  mas- 
tery and  skill  are  filled  with  the  spirit  of  life 
when  the  pupil  catches  glimpses  of  their  pur- 
pose and  value.  The  first  requisite  is  interest  in 
what  he  is  to  say  or  write.  This  generates  the 
second  requisite,  eagerness  to  tell  something 
clearly  and  well. 

To  teach  language  is  then :  (i)  to  rouse  and 
stimulate  thought  and  feeling  ;  (2)  to  give  prac- 
tice in  the  habit  of  thinking  clearly  and  of  ex- 
pressing thought  clearly.  Ideals,  self-activity, 
suggestion,  imitation  (unconscious  and  con- 
scious), repetition,  habit ;  there  is  no  other  path 
to  the  development  of  language  power.  No  per- 
son, no  group  of  persons,  arbitrarily  marked  it 
out.  It  is  rediscovered  by  each  who  studies 
2 


PRINCIPLES  OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

conditions  of  growth  in  himself   and  in  those 
about  him. 

The  place  of  ideal  wants 

The  first  condition  is  always  interest  in  an 
ideal.  The  natural  stimulus  of  every  phase  of 
human  activity  is  the  ideal  that  takes  hold  of  the 
mind  and  heart ;  and  the  effectiveness  of  that 
activity  in  each  individual  depends  upon  the 
strength  of  his  purpose  and  the  degree  of  effort 
he  puts  forth  ;  these  in  turn  depend  upon  the 
vividness  and  potency  of  the  stimulating  idea. 
The  word  ideal  means  idea  plus  desire  to  attain 
—  the  prerequisites  of  all  real  attainment. 

The  child  finds  his  first  language  ideals  in  the 
words  he  hears  at  home,  on  the  street  and  play- 
ground, and,  later,  at  school.  The  growth  of  his 
power  to  understand  and  use  language  measures 
his  assimilation  of  the  life  about  him.  In  other 
words,  his  language  grows  with  himself,  and  he 
with  it. 

In  the  study  of  any  art,  response  to  truth  and 
beauty  must  always  precede  and  accompany  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  attain  truthful  and  beautiful 
expression.  Teachers  of  music,  of  drawing,  and 
of  painting,  build  on  this  principle.  Why  should 
there  be  divorce  of  practice  from  ideals  in  this 
one  great  universal  art  of  language  ?  To  be  sure, 
there  is  no  skill  without  repeated  doing ;  but  it 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

is  equally  certain  that  the  product  of  low  ideals 
and  weak  thought  is  valueless,  be  it  ever  so  per- 
fect mechanically.  One  must  constantly  put  forth 
his  own  efforts,  but  he  must  as  constantly  look 
to  his  ideals.  George  Eliot  voiced  what  every  hu- 
man being  feels  when  she  said,  —  "  For  my  part, 
people  who  do  anything  finely  always  inspire  me 
to  try.  I  don't  mean  that  they  make  me  believe 
that  I  can  do  it  as  well  as  they,  but  they  make 
the  things  seem  worthy  to  be  done." 

Two  fundamental  principles  ef  art 

Whatever  art  is  studied,  two  fundamental  prin- 
ciples must  be  recognized:  (i)  that  the  subtle 
influence  of  vital  contact  with  the  best  expres- 
sions of  that  art  molds  the  student's  efforts  into 
finer  quality  and  form ;  (2)  that  his  own  striving 
to  express  himself  enables  him  to  attain  better 
appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  artist.  Literature 
is  the  highest  form  of  expression  of  the  language 
arts;  and  the  right  use  of  the  right  literature 
is,  therefore,  the  basis  of  all  really  effective  and 
vital  language  teaching. 


II 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE  AS  THE  BASIS  OF 
LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

Two  standards  for  literary  material  used 

THE  highest  language  ideals  are  found  in  liter- 
ature, and  since  there  is  a  wealth  of  literature 
that  appeals  to  the  child,  to  fail  to  make  this  a 
part  of  his  growing  life  is  to  miss  the  greatest 
factor  in  his  language  development. 

To  serve  its  purpose,  it  must  measure  up  to  a 
twefold  standard :  (i)  The  thought  and  feeling 
embodied  must  add  beauty,  meaning,  and  so  joy, 
to  the  everyday  life  of  the  child  in  his  present 
stage  of  growth.  (2)  The  form  of  the  expression 
must  have  some  element  of  beauty  ft  only  that 
of  simplicity  and  directness. 

Its  use  to  interpret  the  child" s  experience 

This  use  of  literature  is  not  as  a  setting  of  the 
copy.  A  necessary  element  of  art  is  that  it  shall 
be  an  expression  of  the  individual's  own  way  of 
seeing,  feeling,  and  doing ;  and  this  means  neither 
imitation  nor  reproduction.  A  great  poem  should 
never  be  paraphrased.  A  story  in  verse,  not  a 
poem,  may  be  rewritten  in  prose  form ;  and  a  real 

5 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

poem  or  a  bit  of  fine  prose  may  be  copied  for 
various  purposes  related  to  vocabulary  or  stand- 
ards of  form ;  but  literature  as  the  natural  basis 
of  language  lessons  serves  a  far  greater  end.  It 
should  suggest  and  recall,  illumine  and  interpret, 
the  child's  own  personal  experiences,  which  he  is 
later  to  tell  in  speech  or  in  writing  as  expressing 
himself.  He  does,  truly,  "enjoy  in  his  books  a 
delightful  dress-rehearsal  of  experience";  but  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  is  his  own  personal 
experience  which  is  dressed  for  the  rehearsal. 

How  the  communicated  thought  of  one  mind 
kindles  response  in  another  and  stirs  the  instifcct- 
ive  desire  to  express  that  response,  remains  one 
of  the  wonderful  mysteries  of  life.  But  we  accept 
this  marvelous  evidence  of  the  kinship  of  human- 
ity as  the  fundamental  basis  of  all  conversation, 
reading,  writing,  and  all  forms  of  personal  ex- 
pression. The  power  of  suggestion  by  means  of 
language  is  interwoven  with  every  word  and  deed 
of  daily  life. 

In  accordance  with  this  great  truth,  the  liter- 
ature that  portrays  in  the  life-story  of  another 
something  the  child  has  himself  seen,  thought, 
felt,  or  done,  most  vividly  recalls  and  suggests 
his  own  experiences.  And  the  vivid  mental  pic- 
ture generates  the  desire  to  tell  about  it. 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

Its  influence  on  vocabulary  and  phraseology 

But  literature  as  the  basis  of  language  teaching 
will  render  another  service.  It  will  help  the  child 
to  an  enriched  vocabulary  and  to  finer  phrase- 
ology. In  its  influence  here,  we  find  the  same 
laws  operating,  viz. :  ideals,  suggestion,  uncon- 
scious and  conscious  imitation.  "  That  language 
is  caught,  not  taught"  is  the  old  way  of  express- 
ing this  truth.  The  choice  word  and  the  happy 
phrase  have  a  peculiar  charm  for  the  young,  ex- 
erting their  strongest  influence  during  the  period 
of  greatest  growth  in  language  power.  In  youth, 
more  often  than  in  adult  life,  the  form  of  ex- 
pression heard  or  read  "is  caught "  in  the  meshes 
of  the  brain  and  remains  the  form  in  which  the 
thought  is  recalled.  Many  of  these  expressions 
are  incorporated  in  conversation,  and  in  original 
descriptions  and  stories,  because  of  the  child's 
instinctive  response  to  sound  and  rhythm,  and 
also  because  of  his  instinctive  impulse  to  imitate 
and  to  repeat  the  words  that  most  impressed 
him. 

In  addition  to  this  growth  in  language  power 
induced  by  unconscious  imitation,  the  skillful 
teacher  leads  to  conscious  imitation  of  certain 
correct  forms  and  fine  or  strong  expressions  ;  and 
through  repetition  of  these  forms  in  self-expres- 
sion, leads  to  their  unconscious  and  habitual 

7 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

use.  Professor  Palmer  says  that  a  word  three 
times  used  is  thereafter  a  part  of  one's  own 
vocabulary.  In  this  way,  and  not  under  the  spell 
of  a  rule  of  grammar,  does  each  individual  learn 
to  use  the  English  language  correctly. 

The  essential  characteristics  of  stories  and 
poems  used 

The  range  of  literature  used  must  be  as  wide 
as  the  interests  of  the  child.  It  must  include  a 
series  of  stories  and  poems  that  appeal  to  the 
many  sides  of  his  life,  —  the  full  round  of  his 
activities,  —  his  plays,  loves,  admirations,  aspira- 
tions, griefs,  and  joys.  It  must  portray  the  two 
worlds  he  inhabits,  his  make-believe  world,  and 
the  world  about  him. 

Each  poem  studied  should  suggest  and  illumine 
a  personal  experience ;  be  a  short  whole  or  com- 
posed of  short  wholes;  it  should  contain  rich 
imagery, — a  series  of  word-pictures,  vivid  to  the 
child ;  it  should  boldly  outline  the  central  inter- 
est with  few  accessories.  The  meaning  of  the 
whole  should  be  easily  interpreted  by  the  experi- 
ence of  the  child.  And,  in  a  poem,  there  is  al- 
ways the  music  of  sound  and  rhythm. 

The  story  requisites  are  similar.    Each  should 

be  simple  in  plot;  the  events  narrated  should 

find  response  in  the  experience  of  the  child  or 

in  his  "  high  imaginings  "  ;  the  characters,  f  aw  in 

8 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

number,  with  one  prominent  figure  about  whom 
the  interest  centers,  —  one  worthy  of  idealiza- 
tion. The  story  should  be  a  short  whole  or  com- 
posed of  short  wholes  ;  be  worthy  of  reproduction 
in  some  form.  It  should  be  told  with  simplicity, 
clearness,  directness,  unity,  coherence,  and  strong 
climax  brought  to  a  quick  close.  There  should  not 
be  at  the  end  a  formal  statement  of  its  meaning. 

The  need  of  a  large  conception  of  language 
teaching 

The  literature  wisely  selected,  the  teacher's 
next  problem  is  how  to  use  it  with  children,  that 
it  may  serve  its  high  ends,  as  manifested  in  prac- 
tical results. 

The  first  essential  of  success  in  teaching  Eng- 
lish is  a  large  conception  in  the  teacher's  mind 
of  the  value  and  significance  of  the  work.  If  he 
conceives  it  to  be  merely  instruction  in  the  use 
of  language  forms,  the  result  will  inevitably  bear 
the  stamp  of  the  mechanical.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  his  conscious  purpose  is  to  enlarge  and 
deepen  the  thought  and  feeling  to  be  expressed, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  develop  technical  accur- 
acy, skill,  and  worthier  form,  the  result  will  be 
vital. 

And  this  large  conception  must  be  in  the  heart 
as  well  as  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  Scientific 
observation  has  proved  that  all  mental  growth 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

beyond  a  certain  rudimentary  stage  depends  ab- 
solutely on  self-expression  —  on  finding  fit  utter- 
ance for  the  vague  thought  or  feeling  that  cannot 
take  shape  or  body  until  it  comes  to  birth  in 
language.  But  it  is  possible  to  know  the  recorded 
scientific  fact  without  realizing  its  importance  or 
bearing.  Only  when  the  feeling  which  accom- 
panies such  realization  is  woven  into  the  fiber  of 
this  intellectual  knowledge  is  its  dynamic  force 
felt  in  language  teaching.  The  story  of  Helen 
Keller's  life  impresses  the  feeling  of  the  value  of 
open  avenues  of  expression,  more  forcibly  than 
can  any  statement  of  scientist  or  philosopher. 
Her  life  is  itself  a  book  in  which  God  has  so 
written  this  great  truth  that  it  makes  powerful 
appeal  to  the  heart  of  the  reader  as  well  as  to  his 
intellect. 

Again,  the  conception  of  the  teacher's  part  in 
this  development  of  language  power  will  deter- 
mine the  character  of  the  teaching.  We  pour 
new  life-currents  into  our  work  when  we  not 
merely  know  as  a  fact,  but  assimilate  as  a  truth 
the  thought  of  Carlyle :  "  How  can  an  inanimate, 
mechanical  gerund-grinder  foster  the  growth  of 
anything ;  much  more  of  mind,  which  grows  not 
like  the  vegetable  (by  having  its  roots  littered  by 
etymological  compost),  but  like  a  Spirit,  —  by 
mysterious  contact  of  Spirit."  Helen  Keller, 
with  the  marvelous  language  power  that  charac- 
10 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

terizes  her  to-day,  is  a  concrete  illustration  of 
this  message.  Miss  Sullivan,  the  rare  teacher  of 
this  rare  soul,  says  :  "  Helen  learned  language  by 
being  brought  in  contact  with  living  language 
itself,  brought  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing 
themes  of  thought  and  of  filling  her  mind  with 
beautiful  pictures  and  inspiring  ideals."  She 
adds :  "  I  have  always  observed  that  children 
invariably  delight  in  lofty,  poetic  language,  which 
we  are  too  ready  to  think  beyond  their  compre- 
hension." 

The  selection  and  use  of  ideals  found  in  literature 

How  will  these  large  conceptions  of  language 
and  language  teaching  in  the  mind  of  the  teacher 
be  manifested  in  his  work  ?  First  of  all,  in  the 
selection,  presentation,  and  further  use  of  the 
ideals  found  in  literature. 

Of  himself,  by  his  own  observing,  imaging,  and 
thinking,  the  child  learns  many  things  about  the 
world  in  which  he  lives  ;  he  vaguely  feels  many 
of  the  truths  of  life ;  he  is  even  able  to  tell  others 
much  of  what  he  sees.  But  in  literature  he  finds 
the  thought  of  those  who  have  seen  more,  felt 
more  deeply,  and  expressed  themselves  more  ef- 
fectively. Here  he  finds  not  only  inspiration,  but 
also  models  of  form. 

Words  have  a  marvelous  power  over  the  mind, 
and  especially  over  the  young  mind ;  it  is  pe- 
II 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

culiarly  susceptible  to  suggestion.  It  is  often 
said  that  "  the  child  thinks  by  means  of  images." 
Words  cause  living  pictures  to  glow  on  the  sens- 
itive film  of  his  brain.  But  no  two  children  re- 
spond to  the  same  words  with  the  same  mental 
pictures;  not  a  child  paints  the  exact  picture  in 
the  mind  of  the  speaker  or  writer.  The  result 
for  each  individual  is  a  series  of  pictures  with 
familiar  setting,  suggested  and  colored  by  the 
word-picture  of  another. 

"A  Random  Memory"  of  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson's  forcibly  illustrates  the  child's  habit 
of  weaving  the  web  of  a  poem  or  a  story  into 
his  own  life  :  — 

"Rummaging  in  the  dusty  pigeonholes  of 
memory,  I  came  once  upon  a  graphic  version  of 
the  famous  psalm  '  The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd ' ; 
and  from  the  places  employed  in  its  illustration, 
which  are  all  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  house 
then  occupied  by  my  father,  I  am  able  to  date  it 
before  the  seventh  year  of  my  age.  The  '  pas- 
tures green '  were  represented  by  a  certain  sub- 
urban stubble  field  where  I  had  once  walked 
with  my  nurse  under  an  autumnal  sunset.  .  .  . 
Here,  in  the  fleecy  person  of  the  sheep,  I  seemed 
myself  to  follow  something  unseen,  unrealized, 
and  yet  benignant ;  and  close  by  the  sheep  in 
which  I  was  incarnated  —  as  if  for  greater  se- 
curity —  rustled  the  skirts  of  my  nurse.  'Death's 

12 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

dark  vale '  was  a  certain  archway  in  the  Warris- 
ton  cemetery.  .  .  .  Here  I  beheld  myself  some 
paces  ahead  (seeing  myself,  I  mean,  from  behind) 
utterly  alone  in  that  uncanny  passage ;  on  the 
one  side  of  me  a  rude,  knobby  shepherd's  staff, 
on  the  other  a  rod  like  a  billiard  cue,  appeared 
to  accompany  my  progress;  the  staff  sturdily 
upright,  the  billiard  cue  inclined  confidentially, 
like  one  whispering,  toward  my  ear.  I  was  aware 
—  I  will  never  tell  you  how  —  that  the  presence 
of  these  articles  afforded  me  encouragement.  .  . . 
In  this  string  of  pictures  I  believe  the  gist  of 
the  psalm  to  have  consisted ;  I  believe  it  had  no 
more  to  say  to  me ;  and  the  result  was  consola- 
tory. I  would  go  to  sleep  dwelling  with  restful- 
ness  upon  these  images.  ...  I  had  already  sin- 
gled out  one  lovely  verse  —  a  scarce  conscious  joy 
in  childhood,  in  age  a  companion  thought :  — 

In  pastures  green  Thou  leadest  me 
The  quiet  waters  by." 

The  man  who  thus  exquisitely  repainted  these 
pictures  stored  away  in  the  "  dusty  pigeonholes  of 
his  memory,"  had  three  great  gifts  :  vivid  mem- 
ories of  childhood  experiences,  the  heart  of  a 
child  to  interpret  them,  and  the  creative  ability 
to  bring  them  forth.  He  thus  lays  bare  many 
universal  feelings  of  childhood  as  he  reads  the 
emotions  in  his  own  soul. 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

One  of  these  feelings,  —  the  quick  response 
to  the  music  and  rhythm  of  words,  —  Stevenson 
recalls  as  follows  :  "  <  The  Lord  is  gone  up  with  a 
shout,  and  God  with  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,' 
rings  still  in  my  ears  from  my  first  childhood, 
and,  perhaps,  with  something  of  my  nurse's  ac- 
cent. There  was  possibly  some  sort  of  image 
written  in  my  mind  by  these  loud  words,  but  I 
believe  the  words  themselves  were  what  I 
cherished.  I  must  have  been  taught  the  love  of 
beautiful  sounds  before  I  was  breeched."  The 
little  girl  who  told  of  her  love  for  "the  singing 
sounds  of  the  verses  "  in  Longfellow's  "  Psalm  of 
Life  "  and  Wordsworth's  "  Daffodils  "  said  the 
same  thing  in  another  way.  Both  spoke  for  the 
child,  as  well  as  for  a  child. 

Some  grievous  sins  committed  against  children 

These  memories  of  Stevenson's  also  suggest 
the  grievous  sins  that  have  been  committed 
against  children,  and,  we  might  add,  against 
literature.  The  so-called  literature,  rewritten, 
"  written  down  "  to  the  assumed  mental  level  of 
the  child,  shows  misunderstanding  of  the  essen- 
tial qualities  of  great  literature  and  of  the  minds 
of  children.  The  truth  is  that  it  is  only  the 
master  mind  that  is  great  enough  to  teach  the 
child  heart.  For  real  literature  expresses  the  soul 
of  the  writer ;  and  that  soul  is  greatest  which 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

has  "  become  as  a  child."  This  is  not  saying  that 
all  great  literature  is  suitable  nourishment  for 
the  young  mind;  it  is  saying  that  all  suitable 
literature  for  the  young  mind  is  great  literature. 
It  is  the  jange,  jnot  the  quality,  of  thought  and 
emotion  that  is  limited  by  experience. 

The  literature  that  touches  the  heart  of  the 
child  appeals  to  his  imagination  and  stirs  his 
emotions  by  suggesting  and  reviving  his  own 
experiences ;  it  appeals  to  his  love  of  action.  It 
must  touch  his  loves,  his  hates,  his  aspirations, 
his  fears,  his  joys,  his  griefs.  It  must  penetrate 
his  world  of  make-believe,  and  touch  the  every- 
day objects  of  the  everyday  world  with  the  wand 
of  fancy,  —  playing  with  their  similarities  and 
resemblances,  —  personifying  sticks  and  stones, 
sun,  moon,  and  stars,  and  even  the  phenomena 
and  forces  of  nature.  If  things  do  not  "  come 
alive"  in  the  outer  world,  they  must  be  made 
alive  in  the  inner  world ;  must  "  move  about  and 
do  things."  The  richer  the  imagery,  the  more 
vivid  the  word  painting,  the  greater  his  delight. 
Surely  these  are  characteristics  of  great  litera- 
ture ;  of  great  poets  and  prose  writers. 

Such  names  as  Homer  and  Shakespeare  sug- 
gest to  many  people  a  field  of  literature  into 
which  the  young  may  not,  cannot,  enter.  This 
belief  is  quite  analogous  to  that  of  the  child  of 
the  city  slums,  who  "  always  thought  grass  was 

IS 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

something  to  keep  off  of."  Both  misconceptions 
are  pathetic.  The  children  themselves,  regardless 
of  the  false  theories  of  their  elders,  have  shown 
that  Homer  touches  their  heart-strings  as  does 
no  modern  writer  of  "stories  and  verses  for 
the  young."  Hugh  Miller,  the  man,  writing  of 
Hugh  Miller,  the  boy  under  ten  years  of  age, 
says : — 

"  Old  Homer  wrote  admirably  for  little  folk, 
especially  in  the  Odyssey ;  a  copy  of  which,  .  .  . 
in  Pope's  translation,  I  found  in  the  house  of  a 
neighbor.  Next  came  the  Iliad  ....  With 
what  power  and  at  how  early  an  age,  genius  im- 
presses! I  saw,  even  at  this  immature  period, 
that  no  other  writer  could  cast  a  javelin  with 
half  the  force  of  Homer." 

To-day,  in  many  primary  schools,  we  find 
children  entranced  and  their  own  lives  lifted 
above  the  commonplace  by  the  stories  of  the 
old  Greek  heroes ;  and  in  many  a  grammar  school 
parts  of  translations  of  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey 
are  read  with  keenest  zest. 

The  child,  by  no  means  ready  for  a  play  of 
Shakespeare's,  listens  with  delight  to  such  a 
burst  of  song  as 

"  Hark,  hark !  the  lark  at  heaven's  gate  sings, 

And  Phoebus  'gins  arise, 
His  steeds  to  water  at  those  springs 
On  chaliced  flowers  that  lies ; 

16 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

And  winking  Mary-buds  begin 

To  ope  their  golden  eyes : 
With  everything  that  pretty  bin, 

My  lady  sweet,  arise : 

Arise,  arise." 

Must  he  wait  until  he  can  fully  understand  the 
significance  of  "chalked"  before  he  can  see 
Phoebus  arise  to  water  his  steeds  ?  see  the  "  wink- 
ing Mary-buds  "  "  ope  their  golden  eyes  "  ?  Must 
he  be  deprived  of  the  pictures  and  the  music  be- 
cause we  do  not  nowadays  say,  "that  pretty  bin  "  ? 
Many  another  old  English  poet  gives  us  gems 
of  real  child  literature.  Edmund  Spenser  may 
be  quoted  as  an  example.  We  find  in  his  verse 
music,  vivid  word-painting,  color,  rich  imagery, 
personification,  action,  and  the  simplicity  result- 
ing from  living  close  to  nature  in  loving  intimacy. 
"  We  wander  at  will  amidst  this  endless  variety 
of  incident,  of  figures,  all  steeped  in  the  colors 
of  the  imagination,  without  being  reminded  that 
there  are  bounds  to  the  world  we  have  entered," 
writes  one  who  knows  this  poet  well.  True,  the 
"Faerie  Queene "  as  a  whole  is  not  for  the 
grades;  but  what  of  such  extracts  from  it  as 
the  one  given  below  ?  This  particular  quotation 
is  given  because  it  has  been  so  often  happily  used 
in  the  intermediate  grades,  with  children  from 
homes  of  all  degrees  of  culture  and  from  homes 
barren  of  all  culture. 

17 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"  Then  came  the  Autumn  all  in  yellow  clad, 
As  though  he  joyed  in  his  plenteous  store, 
Laden  with  fruits  that  made  him  laugh,  full  glad 
That  he  had  banished  hunger  .  .  . 

Upon  his  head  a  wreath,  that  was  enrolled 
With  ears  of  corn  of  every  sort,  he  bore ; 
And  in  his  hand  a  sickle  he  did  hold, 
To  reap  the  ripening  fruits  the  earth  had  yold." 

One  might  write,  "  In  autumn  the  earth  looks 
yellow.  It  has  brought  forth  ripened  fruit  and 
grain,  and  now  we  gather  the  harvest  to  keep 
us  from  getting  hungry  in  the  winter."  There 
would  be  no  unfamiliar  word,  and  the  child 
would  surely  get  the  facts.  But  would  we  ex- 
change the  poet's  beautiful  word  picture  for 
this  literal  statement  ?  Both  preserve  the  same 
familiar  characteristics  of  autumn,  —  the  ripened 
fruits,  the  vivid  yellow  coloring,  the  harvest ;  — 
but  the  poet  embodies  them  in  a  personified  au- 
tumn, such  as  the  child  loves  to  picture;  and 
he  feels  the  spirit  of  the  season  as  a  child  feels  it. 

Does  anyone  believe  that  a  child  cannot  image 
Spenser's  Autumn  and  share  his  joyous  spirit, 
because  the  words  "clad,"  "laden,"  "enrolled," 
and  "yold  "  are  not  in  the  everyday  vocabulary  ? 
The  boy,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  knew  nothing 
of  the  theology  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  nor 
did  he  comprehend  the  exact  meaning  of  many 
of  its  words.  But  "the  result  was  consolatory  "; 
18 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

he  went  to  sleep  "  dwelling  with  restf ulness  upon 
these  images.'*  The  "scarce  conscious  joy  of 
childhood  "  was  a  "  companion  thought  of  age." 
Does  not  many  an  adult  who  can  explain  the 
meanings  of  all  the  words,  at  least  to  his  own 
satisfaction,  possess  less  of  the  real  meaning  and 
spirit  of  the  psalm  ? 

The  oral  uses  of  literature 

Literature,  as  a  basis  of  language  training,  has 
many  uses  besides  the  inspirational :  it  is  a  means 
of  cultivating  the  ear ;  of  enriching  the  vocabu- 
lary ;  of  developing  the  feeling  for  a  choice  word, 
an  apt  phrase,  and  a  well-constructed  sentence. 
To  attempt  to  limit  the  selections  to  the  fami- 
liar vocabulary  or  the  commonplace  expressions 
would  violate  the  principles  of  literature,  of  teach- 
ing, and  of  the  nature  of  children.  Even  a  cer- 
tain quaintness  of  diction  hasra  charm.  For  ex- 
ample, boys  and  girls  of  the  intermediate  grades 
delight  in  hearing  selections  from  Lanier's 
"Malory's  King  Arthur"  if  the  teacher  reads 
them  well.  Such  selections  interpreted  by  a  good 
reader  add  much  to  the  ear  training  so  essential 
to  appreciation  and  good  use  of  English. 

It  may  be  well  to  emphasize  here  the  import- 
ance of  this  special  phase  of  language  teaching. 
Much  beautiful  literature  should  come  to  the 
pupil  through  the  ear.  The  words  of  many  a 

19 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

poem  should  so  sing  themselves  through  the  ear 
into  the  brain  of  the  child  that  he  shall  hear  in 
his  heart  both  message  and  music  "  long  after 
they  are  heard  no  more  "  by  the  outer  ear.  And 
so  the  teacher's  reading  of  literature  is  neces- 
sarily an  important  factor  of  every  phase  of  lan- 
guage teaching,  including  the  teaching  of  oral 
reading.  That  it  may  be  the  best  literature  for 
the  pupils  at  that  time,  it  should  be  selected  by 
one  who  has  the  wide  knowledge  of  literature 
that  is  born  of  years  of  familiarity,  and  who  has 
the  sympathy  with  children  that  means  loving 
insight.  That  it  may  make  its  deepest  impression, 
the  reader  should  fully  appreciate  its  meaning 
and  beauty,  and  be  able  by  his  sympathetic 
reading  to  interpret  that  meaning  and  beauty  to 
others. 

The  following  sketch  of  one  teacher's  happy 
and  profitable  use  of  "Snow-Bound"  illustrates 
the  points  that  have  been  made.  It  is  typical  of 
a  set  of  more  than  a  hundred  such  reports  sent 
to  the  writer  by  as  many  teachers  in  third  and 
fourth  grades.  This  one  came  from  a  school 
where  most  of  the  pupils  are  the  children  of 
laboring  men,  many  of  them  foreigners.  The 
teacher  wrote :  — 

"  I  found  the  following  to  be  the  most  success- 
ful plan  of  studying  *  small  wholes  '  from  *  Snow- 
Bound ' :  a  short  preparatory  talk,  then  my  read- 
20 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

ing  the  selection  without  comment,  followed  by 
general  discussion  with  free  questions  ;  then  re- 
reading, the  oftener  the  better.  Sometimes  the 
children  listened  silently  and  drew  the  pictures. 
Lastly,  they  chose  the  lines  they  liked  best  and 
wanted  to  learn,  and  in  that  way  we  committed 
sixty  lines.  Here  are  a  few  of  their  comments  : 
'  I  like  it  because  we  used  to  live  on  a  farm.'  '  I 
like  it  because  I  haven't  lived  on  a  farm,  and  I'd 
like  to.'  *  I  like  "  Snow- Bound  "  because  it  seems 
so  much  like  home  and  when  we  have  storms/ 
'  I  like  where  the  old  folks  told  them  stories  about 
when  they  were  children.'  '  Where  the  mother 
was  praying  that  no  one  should  want  for  warmth 
and  food.'  '  The  part  where  they  were  doing  things 
and  the  mother  was  knitting  and  they  were  tel- 
ling stories.'  'After  the  storm  was  over,  where 
the  boys  went  out  and  cut  through  the  drifts  to 
get  to  the  barn/  '  Where  the  animals  were  mad 
because  their  breakfast  was  so  long  in  coming  to 
them/  One  boy  said,  '  Seems  as  if  I  can't  keep 
from  saying  "  Snow-Bound  "  all  the  time/  " 

Like  Stevenson,  these  children  used  the 
reader's  pictures  to  bring  their  own  to  light ;  and 
then  it  became  a  pleasure  to  tell  of  their  own 
home  circle,  their  own  home  experiences,  and  of 
experiences  they  would  like  to  have,  and  to  mem- 
orize the  beautiful,  vivid  pictures  of  the  poet. 
They  had  something  to  say  and  were  eager  to 

21 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

say  it,  —  the  first  two  requisites  of  effective  oral 
and  written  composition. 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  discussed  only  one 
manifestation  of  the  large  conception  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  language  teaching,  namely,  the  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  literature  as  a  basis.  Let 
us  briefly  consider  a  few  other  results. 

Respect  for  individuality 

There  will  be  respect  for  the  individuality  of 
the  pupil.  Though  the  teacher  will  kindle  with 
the  live  coal  and,  later,  trim  the  flame,  he  will 
keep  his  hands  off  and  his  tongue  tied  while  each 
pupil  tells  of  his  own  seeing,  imaging,  thinking, 
and  feeling. 

The  importance  of  interest 

There  will  be  interest  on  the  part  of  the  pupil. 
Lack  of  interest  in  oral  or  written  composition  is 
a  sign  that  the  real  boy  or  girl  has  not  been 
touched.  Any  form  of  activity  that  expresses 
one's  self  is  accompanied  by  a  sense  of  joy. 

Recognition  of  unity  in  all  language  lessons 

There  will  be,  also,  recognition  of  the  unity  of 
the  variously  named  lessons  in  the  language 
group.  In  the  schools  of  Germany  the  German 
language  is  studied  as  one  subject,  not  cut  up 
into  sections.  One  finds  on  their  schedules, — 
22 


THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE 

not  literature,  reading,  rhetoric,  language,  spell- 
ing,—  but  German,  which  includes  all  these.  It 
may  not  be  a  disadvantage  to  think  of  these  recit- 
ations by  their  specific  characters,  but  teacher 
and  pupils  should  clearly  recognize  them  all  as 
only  different  phases  of  the  study  of  English. 

The  reading  lesson  should  be  a  reading  of 
literature.  It  should  furnish  not  only  the  inspira- 
tion, but  a  part  of  the  material  for  the  language  les- 
son. The  reading  and  language  periods  may  well 
be  considered  as  two  halves  of  one  whole.  The 
personal  thought  and  feeling  stirred  in  the  one 
should  find  opportunity  for  further  expression  in 
the  other.  While  there  can  be  no  reading  of 
literature  without  language  training,  there  may 
well  be  a  time  known  as  the  language  period,  so 
named  because  its  specific  purpose  is  effective  use 
of  language.  By  means  of  the  reading  lesson, 
completed  by  the  language  lesson,  the  child 
should  not  only  grow  in  knowledge  and  apprecia- 
tion of  the  best  things  written  in  English,  but 
also  in  mastery  of  form  and  ability  to  speak  and 
write  more  effectively.  And  the  best  forms  of 
expression  found  in  the  reading  lesson  should  be 
used  as  standards  of  comparison  in  the  practice 
exercises. 

The  spelling  lessons  should  include  the  writing 
from  dictation  of  sentences,  stanzas,  and  para- 
graphs. These  should  be  models  of  form :  they 

23 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

should  be  related  in  thought  to  the  other  lessons 
of  the  language  group ;  they  should  be  used  to 
teach  spelling,  capitalization,  and  the  character 
and  use  of  punctuation  marks, — in  short,  to 
teach  "the  mechanics  of  written  language"  and 
the  correct  spelling  of  words.  These  are  never 
separated  in  use  outside  the  schoolroom,  and  the 
habit  should  be  formed  of  visualizing  them  in  one 
picture.  The  lists  of  words,  the  sentences,  the 
paragraphs,  should  all  have  direct  bearing  on 
both  the  thought  and  the  form  of  the  next  oral 
or  written  composition. 

There  will  necessarily  be  recitation  periods 
devoted  to  class  criticisms  and  corrections  of 
dictation  work  and  of  oral  and  written  composi- 
tion. The  standards  must  be  the  usage  of  good 
writers.  There  should  be  drawing  and  construc- 
tive lessons  also,  to  illustrate  and  impress  ideas 
that  are  suggested  by  the  reading  lesson  and  ex- 
pressed in  words  in  the  language  lesson. 

Such  unity  of  purpose  and  plan  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  several  subjects  of  the  language 
group  is  dictated  by  good  pedagogy — another 
name  for  common  sense. 


Ill 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  IN  THE  USE 
OF  LITERATURE  FOR  LANGUAGE  TRAINING 

Reading  the  poem  or  story 

TELL  (or  read)  the  story,  and  recite  (or  read)  the 
poem  to  the  children  so  as  to  make  it  most  effect- 
ive in  moving  and  molding  self-expression.  The 
well-told  story  will  kindle  stronger  response  than 
the  story  read  aloud,  though  the  latter  has  its 
value  and  should  not  be  entirely  neglected.  The 
poem  recited  makes  stronger  appeal  to  the  list- 
ener than  the  poem  read  to  him.  There  is  also 
value  in  training  to  reproduce  what  is  read  si- 
lently. But  the  teacher  cannot  too  strongly  em- 
phasize the  thought  as  first  stated,  viz :  that  the 
appeal  to  the  ear  is  most  effective  in  stimulating 
thought  and  feeling  and  in  shaping  its  expres- 
sion. To  be  a  good  reader,  and  to  have  his  silent 
reading  affect  his  own  use  of  language,  the  pupil 
must  be  trained  to  hear  the  words  he  sees.  To 
cultivate  this  habit, and  the  habit  of  "imagin- 
ing "  in  response  to  words,  and  to  cultivate  the 
habit  of  assimilating  the  language  of  literature 
through  its  "ringing  and  singing  in  the  ear,"  — 

25 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

these  are  essential  elements  in  teaching  reading 
and  language. 

Presenting  it  as  a  whole 

We  have  noted  the  value  of  short  wholes. 
Give  the  story  or  the  poem,  first,  as  a  whole, 
without  interruption  for  question,  comment,  or 
explanation. 

Give  it  as  a  whole,  because  only  in  its  unity 
does  it  reveal  its  great  central  meaning  and  its 
beauty.  Give  it  without  comment,  because  each 
listener  is  entitled  to  the  joy  of  discovery.  One 
little  fellow  voiced  what  hundreds  have  felt  when 
he  said:  "Please  don't  stop  to  explain.  I  see  it 
all  so  plain  until  you  stop  to  explain,  and  then  I 
get  all  mixed  up."  The  child  is  entitled  first  to 
his  own  personal  interpretation  of  the  meaning, 
no  matter  how  crude  and  faulty.  It  is  the  great, 
vital,  essential  truth  of  the  poem  that  we  wish  to 
impress.  The  pupil  need  see  only  the  pictures 
vital  to  this  meaning. 

Asking  preliminary  questions 

Preface  the  story  or  poem  by  a  very  few  pointed, 
significant  questions,  —  each  an  individual  pro- 
blem to  be  solved.  Each  should  demand  the 
pupil's  own  individual  response  to  the  most  sig- 
nificant word  pictures,  and  his  own  individual 
interpretation  and  application  of  the  meaning  of 
26 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

the  whole  story  or  poem.  Such  questions  stimu- 
late alert  attention,  keen  interest,  vivid  imagin- 
ing, memory,  interpretative  power  and  desire  to 
communicate  to  others  what  is  seen,  thought, 
and  felt ;  e.g.,  the  teacher  may  say  something 
like  this :  "  Each  be  ready  to  tell  me  when  I 
finish  reciting  this  poem:  (i)  what  pictures  you 
see  most  plainly ;  (2)  what  words  or  lines  make  y' 

you  see  them  ;  (3)  what  pictures  certain  stanzas        * 
(or  sentences)  make  you  see  (word  pictures  in-  Jy^ 
dicated  by  the  teacher) ;  (4)  what  parts  you  like  v 
best;  (5)  what  the  whole  makes  you  think  of." 
These  questions  may  at  first  be  given  one  at  a 
time,  —  with  discussion  after  each  repeated  pre- 
sentation of  the  whole.  The  last  question  points 
to  the  central  meaning,  but  leads  to  individual 
revelation  and  interpretation.  When  a  number 
of  fifth  grade  pupils  said  that  Sidney  Lanier's 
"  The  Song  of  the  Chattahoochee  "  made  them 
think  of  Longfellow's  "Excelsior,"  it  was  the 
best  possible  evidence  that  they  had  grasped  the 
great  meaning  of  both  poems. 

Explaining  comparisons  and  allusions 

If,  in  the  poem  to  be  given,  there  are  compari- 
sons or  allusions  unfamiliar  to  the  children  and 
vital  to  the  meaning  of  the  poem,  prepare  for 
these  by  story,  pictures,  or  objects.  But  do  not 
try  to  turn  on  all  the  side-lights.  For  example : 
27 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

children  cannot  enter  into  the  spirit  of  Longfel- 
low's "The  Children's  Hour,"  without  familiar- 
ity with  castles,  —  their  turrets,  dungeons,  and 
round-towers ;  while  understanding  of  the  allu- 
sion to  the  Bishop  of  Bingen  is  not  necessary,  f 

Therefore,  give  the  key  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  poem  in  stories  of  life  in  the  age  of  chiv- 
alry, when  a  man's  castle  was  his  fortress.  By 
pictures,  give  needed  knowledge  of  the  parts  of 
a  castle ;  but  make  no  conscious  connection  be- 
tween these  stories  and  the  poem.  Let  the  pupils 
use  the  key  themselves. 

Why  make  this  preparation  before  giving  the 
poem  ?  Because  the  clearer  and  stronger  the  first 
impression,  the  more  abiding.  Figures  of  speech 
are  used  by  the  author  to  illuminate  his  message 
by  referring  to  something  supposed  to  be  familiar 
to  the  reader.  Whenever  the  thought  of  the 
hearer  or  reader  is  arrested  and  the  interest 
weakened  by  an  allusion  meaningless  to  him,  the 
literature  loses  a  measure  of  its  power.  And  the 
effect  of  explaining  as  one  reads  has  already  been 
noted. 

Humanizing  descriptive  poems 

When  it  is  necessary  to  warm  and  humanize  a 
descriptive  poem,  preface  it  with  accounts  of  per- 
sonal experiences  that  include  the  seeing  of  what 
is  described.  It  is  the  human  element  that  arouses 
28 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

and  deepens  the  interest  in  the  picture.  This  ele- 
ment the  teacher  must  often  add  from  the  pupil's 
experience  to  bring  him  into  vital  touch  with  the 
beauty  and  power  of  the  description.  For  ex- 
ample, stories  and  descriptions  of  his  own  home 
help  each  better  to  appreciate  Phoebe  Gary's 
"Our  Old  Brown  Homestead."  And  by  sym- 
pathy with  Whittier's  "  barefoot  boy  "  through 
personal  experience,  the  child  may  be  led  to  great 
enjoyment  of  parts  of  this  poem.  Stories  told  by 
teacher  and  pupils  of  similar  experiences  in  the 
woods  and  by  the  streams,  with  accounts  of  what 
was  seen  there,  not  only  bring  nearer  the  boy  of 
the  poem,  but  help  all  to  see  more  clearly  what 
he  saw. 

Providing  abundant  means  for  self-expression 

Having  (i)  prepared  for  the  literature  if  neces- 
sary; having  (2)  given  two  or  three  stimulating 
questions  to  be  discussed  after  the  reading ; 
having  (3)  presented  the  story  or  poem  as  a  whole 
without  interruption  ;  then  (4)  provide  abundant 
means  for  the  pupil's  assimilation  of  the  poem  by 
self-expression. 

Encourage  expression  in  various  forms,  viz. : 
drawing,  painting,  modeling,  constructive  exer- 
cises, conversation,  oral  and  written  reproduc- 
tion of  a  story,  dramatizing,  recitation  of  a  poem, 
dictation,  and  original  stories,  oral  and  written. 
29 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

These  reinforce  one  another.  Each  avenue  of 
expression  contributes  to  clearer  seeing.  This,  in 
turn,  demands  and  creates  more  adequate  ex- 
pression. For  example,  a  child  can  better  de- 
scribe in  words  that  which  he  has  drawn,  painted, 
or  made.  He  enters  more  fully  into  the  spirit  of 
what  he  reads  after  he  has  "  acted  it  out "  in 
dramatization. 

Select  for  each  piece  of  literature  the  forms  of 
expression  which  will  best  illuminate  its  mean- 
ing. Choose  for  drawing  and  painting  the  word 
pictures  that  will  be  made  more  vivid  by  this 
form  of  illustration.  For  constructive  expression, 
see  that  the  "  making  "  suggested  has  value  to 
the  child  and  to  the  vivifying  of  the  poem.  Of 
course  a  narrative  poem,  not  a  descriptive  poem, 
best  lends  itself  to  dramatization  ;  e.g.,  we  do  not 
attempt  to  dramatize  "  Our  Old  Brown  Home- 
stead." But  children  love  to  draw  and  paint  the 
little  brown  house  with  the  apple  boughs  reach- 
ing out  over  the  roof,  —  the  cherry  trees  with 
their  branches  brushing  against  the  window- 
panes,  and  the  sweet  brier  under  the  window-sill. 
They  love  to  whittle  out  the  old  well  curb,  and 
the  "  rude  old  sweep  "  with  bucket  attached.  And 
for  the  child,  these  vitalize  the  poem.  They  help 
him  to  see  a  very  real  home. 

Point  out  and  use  as  models  for  practice  exer- 
cises, expressions  in  story  or  poem  that  use  cor- 

30 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

rcctly  certain  forms  often  used  incorrectly  by  the 
pupils.  Call  attention  to  the  beautiful  or  the 
forcible  expression,  and  plan  exercises  requiring 
their  use  by  the  pupils. 

Reinforce  the  other  language  values  of  a  piece 
of  literature  and  economize  time  and  energy  by 
making  it  a  means  of  practice  in  writing,  spell- 
ing, and  the  use  of  the  "  mechanics  of  written 
language."  Selections  copied  and  written  from 
dictation  or  memory  fix  by  study  and  by  use  the 
correct  forms  of  the  words,  many  of  which  will 
be  needed  later  in  the  pupil's  written  composi- 
tion. JJiis  work  also  helps  to  fix  the  habit  of 
using  correctly  the  various  marks  of  punctuation, 
while  fixing  in  the  mind  something  worthy  in 
both  thought  and  form. 

Have  stories  reproduced  occasionally,  orally 
and  in  writing.  Carefully  select  the  stories  for 
this  purpose.  The  special  values  are  cultivation 
of  attention  and  memory;  freedom  in  expres- 
sion ;  growth  in  power  to  see  relations,  to  grasp 
essentials,  and  to  tell  connectedly ;  use  of  correct 
forms;  and  enlargement  of  vocabulary.  Lead 
even  young  children  to  the  idea  of  continuity. 
Constant  emphasis  of  "  What  comes  next  ? "  with 
much  retelling  to  tell  better  in  this  respect,  helps 
to  establish  the  ideal.  This  accomplished,  there 
may,  later,  be  class  discussion  before  the  repro- 
duction, resulting  in  the  adoption  of  two  or  three 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"  topics  "  to  be  kept  in  mind.  Constantly  work 
toward  power  to  think  and  tell  connectedly.  Re- 
production may,  also,  be  made  a  conscious  as 
well  as  an  unconscious  means  of  enlarging  the 
vocabulary.  Pupils  may  sometimes  be  required  to 
use  in  their  own  story-telling,  certain  specified 
words  and  phrases  selected  from  the  story  told 
by  another. 

A  fine  poem,  as  has  been  said  before,  should 
never  be  reproduced  or  paraphrased.  It  should 
be  given  only  with  the  music  and  rhythm  that 
are  a  part  of  its  beauty. 

Every  month  complete  the  study  of  one  or 
two  poems  by  having  them  "  learned  by  heart  " 
and  recited.  Through  the  hearing,  discussing, 
illustrating,  repetition  of  lines,  copying,  dicta- 
tion, exercises,  and  the  various  other  uses  sug- 
gested, the  poem  is  memorized  by  some  children 
in  the  class,  and  partly  memorized  by  all  of  them. 
With  a  little  more  time  and  directed  effort,  each 
will  have  committed  it  to  his  memory  to  keep. 
Learning  and  reciting  a  poem  by  means  of  this 
assimilative  study  is  of  immeasurably  greater 
value  in  every  respect  than  the  mere  learning  of 
words  stanza  by  stanza  from  book  or  blackboard. 
Have  frequent  individual  recitations  of  poems 
thus  learned.  The  pupil  reciting  should  stand  out 
before  his  hearers  and  look  into  their  faces.  He 
should  be  trained  to  stand  with  well-poised  body, 
32 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

to  pronounce  correctly,  and  to  speak  distinctly 
in  well-modulated  tones. 

The  series  of  lessons  from  story  and  poem 
should  bear  fruit  in  the  children's  original  stories 
and  simple  descriptions,  oral  and  written. 

Using  a  piece  of  literature  for  self-criticism 

Have  the  pupils  use  a  piece  of  literature  for 
self-criticism  by  comparison.  The  time  and  nerv- 
ous energy  spent  by  teachers  in  correcting  papers 
is  deplorably  misspent. 

Each  must  overcome  his  faults  by  his  own 
efforts.  He  must  see  them  himself,  and  himself 
feel  them  as  faults  before  he  will  put  forth  this 
corrective  effort.  The  wrong  is  seen  by  its  com- 
parison with  the  right,  —  the  false  by  its  diverg- 
ence from  the  true.  The  habit  of  comparing  his 
own  work,  in  specific  points,  with  the  work  of  an 
artist  impresses  the  right  and  the  true  forms  on 
eye  and  ear.  Correcting  his  own  mistakes  to  bring 
his  own  work  into  line  with  the  right  he  has  him- 
self seen,  fixes  the  impression  by  Voice  or  hand. 
By  this  comparison,  the  child  also  learns  to  feel 
and  unconsciously  imitate  the  clearness,  beauty, 
and  strength  of  the  good  sentence,  of  unity,  co- 
herence, climax,  and  all  other  elements  of  good 
story-telling  long  before  he  knows  them  by 
name.  As  his  powers  mature,  he  may  be  led  to 
criticize  his  own  compositions  in  each  of  these 

33 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

respects  by  comparison  with  a  piece  of  good  lit- 
erature. 

This  kind  of  language  work  keeps  pupils  grow- 
ing in  appreciation  of  ideals,  while  it  requires 
of  them  daily  exercises  in  self-expression.  Both 
teachers  and  pupils  grow  in  realization  of  the 
truth  that  "to  see  something  clearly  and  to  tell 
it  in  a  plain  way"  is  not  merely  the  gift  of  a 
genius,  but  an  art  to  be  mastered.  And  the  happy 
growth  of  the  pupils  in  reading  and  language 
power  evidences  their  advance  toward  mastery. 

Three  illustrative  uses  of  literature 

(a)  In  the  beginner 's  first  grade 
Stevenson's  "  The  Land  of  Counterpane  " 

Teacher :  "  I  am  going  to  read  to  you  a  poem 
that  I  like.  I  am  sure  you  will  like  it,  too.  The 
words  make  me  see  pictures.  I  can  see  the  pict- 
ures with  my  eyes  shut.  Listen,  and  tell  me, 
when  I  have  finished  reading  the  poem,  what 
the  lines  make  you  see." 

THE   LAND   OF  COUNTERPANE1 

When  I  was  sick  and  lay  a-bed, 
I  had  two  pillows  at  my  head, 
And  all  my  toys  beside  me  lay 
To  keep  me  happy  all  the  day. 

1  From  Poems  and  Ballads.  Copyright,  1895,  1896,  by 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

34 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

And  sometimes  for  an  hour  or  so 
I  watched  my  leaden  soldiers  go, 
With  different  uniforms  and  drills, 
Among  the  bed-clothes,  through  the  hills. 

And  sometimes  sent  my  ships  in  fleets, 
All  up  and  down  among  the  sheets, 
Or  brought  my  trees  and  houses  out, 
And  planted  cities  all  about. 

I  was  the  giant  great  and  still 
That  sits  upon  the  pillow-hill, 
And  sees  before  him,  dale  and  plain, 
The  pleasant  Land  of  Counterpane. 

With  as  little  "  fuss  "  about  it  as  possible,  get 
sentences,  not  fragments,  from  the  children,  in 
conversation.  Lead  them  to  begin  with  "  I  saw." 
The  responses  will  be  something  like  this :  "  I 
saw  a  little  boy  in  a  white  '  nightie '  sitting  up  in 
bed ;  and  he  had  two  pillows  back  of  him."  "  I 
saw  tin  soldiers  with  painted  coats  on."  "  I  saw 
toys  all  over  the  bed."  (What  toys  ?)  "  I  saw  ships 
with  sails ;  and  green  trees ;  and  block  houses." 
(What  was  the  little  boy  doing  ?)  "  The  little  boy 
played  he  was  a  giant ;  and  that  the  pillows  were 
a  big  hill."  "He  played  the  bed  was  land,  and 
that  the  wrinkles  in  the  clothes  were  hills ;  and 
then  he  built  houses  on  the  land."  "  Sometimes 
he  played  the  sheets  were  water,  and  he  sailed 
his  ships  all  up  and  down." 

Teacher :  "  What  word  in  the  poem  tells  that 

35 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

he  built  many  houses?  Let  us  write  'city'  on  the 
board.  What  word  tells  us  that  he  sent  many 
ships  together  '  all  up  and  down '  among  the 
sheets  ?  We  will  write  '  fleet '  on  the  board  too. 
'  A  fleet  is  a  number  of  ships  together/  " 

During  the  discussions  suggested,  the  teacher 
may  have  read  the  poem  several  times,  and  may 
have,  by  request,  repeated  various  lines  or  stan- 
zas. By  this  time  the  children  will  have  caught 
many  of  the  words  of  the  poems  as  well  as  its 
pictures. 

The  teacher  may  re-read  the  entire  poem.  Pre- 
face with  :  "  When  I  finish  reading  this  time,  tell 
all  the  pictures  you  see ;  but  instead  of  telling 
in  your  own  words,  repeat  the  lines  in  the  poem 
that  make  you  see  them."  Different  lines  will  be 
repeated  by  different  pupils.  Sometimes  the  en- 
tire poem  will  be  given  in  this  way.  Have  it  re- 
cited by  individual  pupils  until  the  majority  of 
the  class  have  learned  it  "  by  heart,"  and  until 
all  have  learned  a  part  of  it. 

Accompany  and  follow  these  recitations  with 
conversations  and  story-telling  and  simple  de- 
scriptions based  on  personal  suggestions,  e.g. : 
"  Did  you  ever  play  the  pillows  were  hills  ?  that 
the  sheets  were  the  ocean  ?  or  land  ?  Have  you 
had  toys  on  the  bed  ?  What  toys  ?  What  did  you 
play?  Tell  about  it." 

"  What  toys  do  you  have  most  fun  with  ?  Draw 

36 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

three  toys  that  you  like  to  play  with.  Each  may 
tell  how  some  toy  looks,  and  the  rest  of  us  will 
guess  what  it  is.  Tell  how  large  it  is,  what  shape, 
and  what  color  or  colors."  »-.. 

"  Do  you  ever  play  *  march  and  drill '  with  sol- 
diers? Tell  about  it." 

"  Do  you  ever  build  a  city  ?  How  ?  Tell  about 
it." 

"  Do  you  ever  sail  ships  ?  How  ?  Tell  about 
it." 

"  Do  you  ever  play  giant  ?  Brownie  ?  Santa 
Claus  ?  When  you  play  you  are  a  man  or  a  woman, 
what  do  you  like  best  to  be  ?  Tell  about  it." 

This  entire  series  of  lessons  is  an  excellent 
basis  for  script  reading  lessons,  easily  suggesting 
good  sentences  for  reading  with  feeling,  —  for 
word  study,  for  vivifying  by  drawing,  painting, 
"making,"  and  action. 

b.  In  the  primary  grades 
Longfellow's  "  The  Children's  Hour  " 

In  this  poem,  the  father  symbolizes  his  love  by 
an  imaginative  play.  His  children  enter  at  once 
into  the  "pretending  game"  without  explana- 
tions, because  they  understand  the  meaning  of 
what  he  says.  That  other  children  may  intelli- 
gently play  this  game  with  the  children  of  the 
poem,  they  must  first  become  familiar  with 
castles,  —  their  outer  walls,  turrets,  dungeons, 

37 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

and  round-towers;  they  must  think  of  the  "dun- 
geon in  the  round-tower"  as  the  most  secure 
place  in  the  castle,  the  place  best  guarded  from 
the  banditti  who  might  scale  the  walls.  Here 
the  castle  king  might  keep  his  treasures. 

To  give  this  needed  knowledge  and  familiarity, 
the  teacher  may  collect  pictures  of  castles,  and 
tell  stories  of  knighthood, — perhaps  Mrs.  Har- 
rison's "  Story  of  Cedric  "  ;  perhaps  Jane  An- 
drews's  "Gilbert  the  Page."  See  that  the  un- 
familiar words  used  by  the  poet  are  made  a  part 
of  the  children's  vocabulary  by  use  in  their  re- 
productions of  these  stories.  Say  nothing  about 
the  poem  in  this  connection.  The  stories  are 
given  at  this  time  for  their  interpretative  value. 
The  children  should  have  the  pleasure  of  invol- 
untarily using  the  knowledge  gained. 

The  poem  needs  slight  introduction.  The 
thought  may  be  directed  to  the  pleasures  of  the 
twilight  hour,  when  fathers  are  most  apt  to  have 
time  to  play  with  their  children.  Then,  —  "  I  will 
read  you  a  poem  that  tells  how  the  poet,  Long- 
fellow, used  to  spend  this  hour  with  his  three 
little  daughters,  Alice,  Allegra,  and  Edith.  *  Be- 
tween the  dark  and  the  daylight,'  they  liked  to 
surprise  him  in  his  study.  He  would  pretend  they 
had  broken  into  his  castle.  Listen,  and  see  the 
pictures." 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 


THE  CHILDREN'S  HOUR 

Between  the  dark  and  the  daylight, 
When  the  night  is  beginning  to  lower, 
Comes  a  pause  in  the  day's  occupations, 
That  is  known  as  the  Children's  Hour. 

I  hear  in  the  chamber  above  me, 
The  patter  of  little  feet, 
The  sound  of  a  door  that  is  opened, 
And  voices  soft  and  sweet. 

From  my  study  I  see  in  the  lamplight, 
Descending  the  broad  hall  stair, 
Grave  Alice  and  laughing  Allegra, 
And  Edith  with  golden  hair. 

A  whisper  and  then  a  silence ; 
Yet  I  know  by  their  merry  eyes 
They  are  plotting  and  planning  together 
To  take  me  by  surprise. 

A  sudden  rush  from  the  stairway, 
A  sudden  raid  from  the  hall ! 
By  three  doors  left  unguarded 
They  enter  my  castle  wall ! 

They  climb  up  into  my  turret 
O'er  the  arms  and  back  of  my  chair ; 
If  I  try  to  escape,  they  surround  me ; 
They  seem  to  be  everywhere. 

They  almost  devour  me  with  kisses, 
Their  arms  about  me  entwine, 
Till  I  think  of  the  Bishop  of  Bingen, 
In  his  Mouse-tower  on  the  Rhine ! 

39 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

Do  you  think,  O  blue-eyed  banditti, 
Because  you  have  scaled  the  wall, 
Such  an  old  mustache  as  I  am 
Is  not  a  match  for  you  all ! 

I  have  you  fast  in  my  fortress, 
And  will  not  let  you  depart, 
But  put  you  down  in  the  dungeon, 
In  the  round-tower  of  my  heart. 

And  there  will  I  keep  you  forever, 
Yes,  forever  and  a  day, 
Till  the  walls  shall  crumble  to  ruin, 
And  moulder  in  dust  away ! 

1.  Teacher:  "Who  has  something  to  tell  us 
about  what  he  saw  as  I  read  the  poem  ? " 

Accept  the  responses,  clear  or  obscure,  few  or 
many.  Have  them  given  in  good  sentences. 
Make  it  a  free,  happy  conversation,  not  a  "  stiff  " 
recitation. 

2.  Teacher :  "  Listen  again  as  I  read  a  stanza 
at  a  time.  At  the  end  of  each  stanza,  you  may 
tell  me  what  it  is  about.  Try  to  tell  as  much  of 
it  as  you  can  in  the  words  of  the  poem.  If  any 
word  is  strange  to  you,  it  will  keep  you  from  get- 
ting the  picture.  Ask  its  meaning/' 

(Such  words  may  be  written  on  the  board  to 
concentrate  attention  on  them  while  their  mean- 
ing is  discussed.) 

3.  As  a  written  language  exercise,  the  teacher 
may  write  on  the  board  the  sentences  from  the 
poem  that  close  with  the  exclamation  mark. 

40 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

To  pupils :  "  Copy  from  the  board  these  sen- 
tences from  '  The  Children's  Hour/  Be  sure  to 
copy  the  mark  at  the  end  of  each  sentence. 
Whatjis  it  called  ?  What  does  it  tell  about  the 
feeling  of  the  writer  ?  " 

4.  (Dictation  exercise.)  The  teacher  may  write 
the  third  stanza  on  the  board. 

Direction  :  "  Study  this  carefully  to  be  able  to 
write  it  from  dictation.  Tell  where  each  capital 
letter  is  used,  and  why  it  is  used  in  that  place." 

5.  Teacher :  "  Listen  again  to  the  reading  of 
the  whole  poem.  At  the  close  :  (a)  draw  one  of 
the  pictures  in  the  poem.  Each  may  make  his 
own  choice,  (b)  Repeat  as  many  lines  of  the  poem 
as  you  can." 

Have  only  individual  recitations.  One  pupil 
may  begin  and  recite  as  much  of  the  poem  as  he 
remembers ;  another  may  recite  from  the  point 
where  the  first  one  stops,  and  so  on,  until  there 
is  a  patchwork  recitation  of  the  whole.  Continue 
until  many  of  the  class  have  memorized  the  poem. 
For  the  few  who  cannot  master  it  through  the 
ear,  it  may  be  presented  to  the  eye.  But  first  let 
the  appeal  to  the  ear  have  its  effect.  Continue  to 
have  frequent  individual  recitations  of  each  poem 
memorized. 

6.  (Original  expression.)  Teacher :  "  Tell  what 
the  whole  poem  makes  you  think  of." 

"  Tell  about  romps  or  plays  you  have  with  your 

41 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

father,  uncle,  or  big  brother,  '  between  the  dark 
and  the  daylight ' ; "  or,  "  Tell  of  a  quiet  twilight 
story-telling  hour." 

"  Fathers  show  their  love  for  their  children  in 
many  different  ways.  Tell  about  them." 

"  Children  have  many  different  ways  of  show- 
ing  that  they  return  this  love.  Tell  about  them." 

c.  In  the  grammar  grades 
Lanier's  "  Song  of  the  Chattahoochee  " 

(Preparation.)  If  pupils  are  not  familiar  with  a 
mountainous  country,  collect  pictures  of  moun- 
tain streams.  As  teacher  and  pupils  look  at 
these  pictures  and  talk  about  them,  use  words  of 
the  poem,  as :  hurry,  run,  leap,  split,  rapid,  fall, 
bed,  etc. 

The  children  will  be  interested  in  hearing 
selections  from  Van  Dyke's  Little  Rivers. 

Teacher :  "  To-morrow  I  will  recite  for  you  a 
beautiful  poem  about  a  mountain  stream.  The 
writer,  Sidney  Lanier,  is  a  poet  of  our  own  coun- 
try. He  was  born  in  the  South,  and  loved  the 
Southland.  The  river  of  his  poem,  the  Chatta- 
hoochee, rises  in  Georgia.  It  rises  in  Habersham 
County,  and  flows  through  Hall  County,  both  in 
northeastern  Georgia. 

"  Before  to-morrow,  consult  your  geographies. 
Make  a  rough  sketch  tracing  the  course  of  the  river 
'  down  the  hills  of  Habersham  'and  *  through  the 
42 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

valleys  of  Hair  County,  downward  across  the 
plains  of  Alabama,  and  on  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Tell  in  what  foothills  this  river  rises." 

The  following  day,  with  very  little  discussion 
of  the  preparation  (including  special  emphasis  on 
the  journey  from  the  rocky  hills,  through  the 
valleys,  across  the  plains,  to  the  ocean),  the 
teacher  recites,  or  reads,  the  entire  poem.  The 
first  time,  listening  may  be  the  only  require- 
ment. The  music  of  this  poem  is  a  fitting  ac- 
companiment to  the  song.  Tell  the  children  just 
to  listen  to  the  music  and  enjoy  it.  It  may  be 
given  them  more  than  once  for  pure  enjoyment. 

SONG  OF  THE  CHATTAHOOCHEE* 

Out  of  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
Down  the  valleys  of  Hall, 
I  hurry  amain  to  reach  the  plain, 
Run  the  rapid  and  leap  the  fall, 
Split  at  the  rock  and  together  again, 
Accept  my  bed,  or  narrow  or  wide, 
And  flee  from  folly  on  every  side 
With  a  lover's  pain  to  attain  the  plain 
Far  from  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
Far  from  the  valleys  of  Hall. 

All  down  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
All  through  the  valleys  of  Hall, 

1  From  Sidney  Lanier's  Poems.    Copyright,  1884,  1891,  by 
Mary  D.  Lanier.  Published  by  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

43 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

The  rushes  cried,  Abide,  abide, 

The  willful  waterweeds  held  me  thrall, 

The  laving  laurels  turned  my  tide, 

The  ferns  and  the  fondling  grass  said,  Stay, 

The  dewberry  dipped  for  to  work  delay, 

And  the  little  reeds  sighed,  Abide,  abide, 

Here  in  the  hills  of  Habersham, 

Here  in  the  valleys  of  Hall. 

High  o'er  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
Veiling  the  valleys  of  Hall, 
The  hickory  told  me  manifold 
Fair  tales  of  shade,  the  poplar  tall 
Wrought  me  her  shadowy  self  to  hold, 
The  chestnut,  the  oak,  the  walnut,  the  pine, 
Overleaning,  with  flkkering  meaning  and  sign, 
Said,  Pass  not,  so  cold,  these  manifold 
Deep  shades  of  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
These  glades  in  the  valleys  of  Hall. 

And  oft  in  the  hills  of  Habersham, 

And  oft  in  the  valleys  of  Hall, 

The  white  quartz  shone,  and  the  smooth  brook-stone 

Did  bar  me  of  passage  with  friendly  brawl, 

And  many  a  luminous  jewel  lone — 

Crystals  clear  or  a-cloud  with  mist, 

Ruby,  garnet,  and  amethyst,  — 

Made  lures  with  the  lights  of  streaming  stone 

In  the  clefts  of  the  hills  of  Habersham, 

In  the  beds  of  the  valleys  of  Hall. 

But  oh,  not  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
And  oh,  not  the  valleys  of  Hall 
Avail :  I  am  fain  for  to  water  the  plain. 
Downward  the  voices  of  Duty  call  — 

44 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

Downward,  to  toil  and  be  mixed  with  the  main, 
The  dry  fields  burn,  and  the  mills  are  to  turn, 
And  a  myriad  flowers  mortally  yearn, 
And  the  lordly  main  from  beyond  the  plain 
Calls  o'er  the  hills  of  Habersham, 
Calls  through  the  valleys  of  Hall. 

After  a  second  or  third  reading,  call  for  a  gen- 
eral discussion  of  the  pictures  seen  by  the  pupils. 
They  may  also  give  any  opinions,  or  express  any 
feeling  which  the  poem  has  suggested. 

Teacher  :  "  The  more  we  think  about  a  beauti- 
ful poem,  the  more  pleasure  and  meaning  we  get 
from  it.  Let  us  look  at  this  one  more  closely.  I 
will  read  again  the  stanza  that  pictures  the  rapid 
running  and  leaping  of  the  Chattahoochee  before 
it  leaves  the  rocky  foothills.  Look  at  this  picture  : 
'I  hurry  amain/  How  would  the  picture  be 
changed  if  the  word  amain  were  omitted  ?  What 
seven  words  or  expressions  in  this  stanza  tell 
what  the  river  does?  —  ('hurry  amain/  —  'run 
the  rapid,'  —  '  leap  the  fall/  —  '  split  at  the 
rock/  —  '  together  again/  —  '  accept  my  bed/ 
—  'flee.')  Do  you  see  the  stream  as  it  does 
these  things  ? " 

"  What  two  expressions  tell  the  purpose  of  it 
all  ? " 

"  Here,  then,  we  have  (i)  the  beautiful  pictures ; 
(2)  their  meaning  as  the  poet  interprets  it." 

"  In  the  second  stanza,  we  no  longer  see  the 

45 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

leaping,  rushing  stream.  It  has  come  down  from 
the  mountains,  and  is  now  a  quiet,  peaceful  river 
rippling  along  between  its  green  banks.  What 
'  green  things  growing '  on  the  edge  of  the  stream 
tried  to  delay  its  course  ?  Have  you  seen  them 
all  ?  What  else  have  you  seen  growing  close  to 
running  water  ?  Do  these  things  hold  the  water 
back  in  its  course  ?  Observe  the  words  that  tell 
how  each  tried  to  delay  the  stream.  What  is  the 
meaning  of  'held  me  thrall'?  Show  how  the 
words  '  willful,'  '  laving,'  and  '  fondling '  add  to 
the  picture  and  to  the  feeling  of  the  temptation 
to  stay." 

"  The  next  temptation  is  to  linger  under  the 
trees  that  are  on  the  hills  and  in  the  glades. 
(What  expression  might  have  been  used  instead 
of  glades  ?  Would  it  sound  as  well  here?)  What 
trees  are  named  ?  Do  all  these  grow  where  we 
live  ?  How  does  the  poet  picture  the  hickory  as 
tempting  the  stream  ?  Does  the  sun  shine  very 
hot  on  the  bare  plains  of  the  South-?  Does  this, 
by  contrast,  make  the  shade  more  desirable  ? 
What  is  the  meaning  of,  —  *  the  poplar  tall 
wrought  me  her  shadowy  self  to  hold  '  ?  What 
picture  do  you  get  from  this  line,  —  '  overleaning 
with  flickering  meaning  and  sign '  ?  " 

"  We  next  see  the  river  flowing  between  rocky 
cliffs.  What  beautiful  stones  are  hidden  away  in 
the  clefts  of  the  rocks  ?  in  the  river  bed  ?  What 
46 


SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS 

words  make  us  hear  the  stream  as  well  as  see  it  ? 
Is  there  any  special  suggestion  in  the  word 
friendly  ?  What  expression  of  two  words  in  this 
stanza  tells  that  the  stream  was  affected  by 
this  beauty?  Explain  the  meaning  of  the  expres- 
sion." 

"  Did  the  stream  yield  to  any  of  these  'lures'  ? 
The  first  two  lines  of  the  last  stanza  answer  this 
question.  The  third  line  gives  the  reason.  What 
unusual  word  in  the  line  means  glad  ?  Why  is  the 
word  in  the  poem  better?  The  same  line  tells 
of  the  work  to  be  done  on  the  plain.  What  was 
it  ?  What  word  is  used  instead  of  ocean  ?  Why 
better?" 

"  Point  out  the  lines  that  are  nearly  alike  in 
the  first  and  the  last  stanza.  Show  that  these 
lines  are  the  key  to  the  great  thought  of  the 
poem." 

"  Tell  what  parts  you  like  best.  Give  the  lines, 
couplets,  or  stanzas  you  have  memorized." 

"Learn  the  poem  'by  heart'  and  recite  it  to 
the  class." 

"  Make  a  list  of  poems  that  contain  vivid  word 
pictures  of  brooks  and  rivers."  (Discuss  them  in 
class.) 

"  Discuss  any  poems  you  know  that  tell  of  vic- 
tory over  temptation." 

"Tell  a  story  you  have  read  or  heard  that 
portrays  such  victory."  (Reproduction.) 

47 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"Tell  an  original  story,  true  or  imaginative, 
that  has  the  same  theme,  namely :  a  story  of 
overcoming  the  temptation  to  neglect  the  work 
to  which  duty  calls." 


IV 

THE  GROUP  PLAN  OF  COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

Each  lesson  is  an  epitome  of  previous  experience 

TO-DAY  is  the  result  of  all  the  yesterdays.  At 
any  point  of  time  each  person's  ability  to  in- 
terpret and  communicate  thought  and  feeling  is 
the  result  of  many  cooperative  forces  working 
throughout  his  entire  past.  All  that  each  has 
learned  to  know  through  what  he  has  himself 
seen,  heard,  thought,  and  done  ;  all  that  he  has 
felt  in  response  to  life's  experiences  and  in  re- 
sponse to  the  portrayal  of  experiences  in  story, 
poem,  picture,  or  other  form  of  art ;  all  that  he  is 
to-day,  —  manifests  itself  in  his  own  expression. 
The  strength  and  power  of  this  impulse  from 
within  will  depend  on  the  clearness  and  range  of 
knowledge  and  the  consequent  depth  and  gen- 
uineness of  the  feeling.  The  force  with  which 
this  expression  will  take  hold  of  another  is  con- 
ditioned upon  mastery  of  words  :  of  vocabulary, 
phraseology,  and  arrangement.  And  the  degree 
of  this  mastery  is  the  result  of  what  the  ear  has 
heard,  what  the  eye  has  seen,  and  what  the  mouth 
has  spoken  during  the  yesterdays  that  have  fash- 
ioned to-day. 

49 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

These  familiar  truths  have  been  repeated  to 
remind  us  that  they  are  as  true  of  life  within  the 
schoolroom  as  without.  Each  lesson  in  school  is 
but  an  epitome  of  some  life  lesson.  Every  con- 
scious attempt  to  express  himself  in  oral  or  writ- 
ten composition  should  be  felt  by  the  pupil  to  be 
the  result  of  a  series  of  cooperative  lessons  all 
helping  him  to  communicate  his  thought  through 
this  composition.  And  this  expression  of  himself 
measures  the  development  of  this  language  power 
at  any  given  time. 

The  literary  selection  as  the  basis  of  a  group  of 
cooperative  lessons 

Right  here  we  have  touched  the  primary  cause 
of  weak  results  in  teaching  literature  and  lan- 
guage by  many  and  many  a  faithful  teacher,  — 
namely,  failure  to  unify  the  lessons  and  the  en- 
ergies of  teachers  and  pupils  because  of  weak 
grasp  or  no  grasp  of  a  central  purpose.  Without 
this,  each  lesson  is  an  isolated  unit  when  it  should 
be  one  of  a  group  of  cooperative  units.  Careful 
observation  of  the  schoolroom  work  of  those  who 
are,  to  some  extent,  using  literature  as  a  basis  of 
language  lessons  will  show  that  most  use  a  liter- 
ary selection  as  a  more  or  less  distinct  unit ;  and 
teach  a  series  of  language  lessons  as  so  many  dis- 
tinct, unrelated  units.  This  is  to  disregard  the 
law  of  interrelations  of  thought  and  of  mental 

50 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

energies.  It  makes  slight  use  of  the  laws  to  which 
we  have  referred  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 
Especially  does  it  ignore  the  cumulative  force  of 
concentrated  energy. 

The  literary  selection  should  be  not  merely  the 
basis  of  one  language  lesson,  nor  of  a  series  of 
unrelated  lessons,  but  the  basis  of  a  group  of  co- 
operative lessons,  tied  together  by  the  theme  of 
the  selection. 

a.  First  step :  selecting  an  interesting  theme 

The  first  step  is  the  selection  of  a  theme  that 
touches  the  interests  of  the  pupils.  This  marvel- 
ous "human  touch,"  this  kinship  of  human  inter- 
ests, this  every-day  proclamation  of  universal 
brotherhood,  —  does  not  the  thought  of  these 
everlasting  foundations  lift  language  teaching 
above  drudgery  into  privilege  ?  It  is  with  the 
keen  delight  of  the  artist  that  a  teacher  interprets 
the  kindling  eye  and  eager  tongue  which  show 
that  the  right  note  has  been  struck. 

The  next  pleasure  is  the  search  for  pictures 
and  literature  that  will  bring  to  the  pupils  that 
portrayal  of  these  interests  which  will  be  a  "dress 
rehearsal  of  their  own  experiences," —  such  por- 
trayal as  will  give  new  dignity  to  the  experiences 
recalled,  and  impress  higher  ideals  of  forms  of 
expression. 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

b.  Second  step :  using  the  literary  embodiment  of  the 
theme 

Then  follows  the  still  greater  delight  of  so 
using  the  pictures  and  the  literature  selected  as 
to  strike  not  merely  the  right  note  but  the  full 
chord.  As  has  been  said,  the  literature  is,  for 
this  purpose,  best  presented  to  the  ear,  that  the 
minds  of  the  pupils  may  be  given  entirely  to  gaz- 
ing, not  glancing,  at  the  mental  pictures  brought 
into  view  on  the  brain  film  in  response  to  the 
words  of  an  artist.  For  each  individual  this  means 
a  series  of  pictures  out  of  his  own  life,  the  mak- 
ing of  which  frees  the  motive  force  that  sets 
a-throbbing  with  desire  for  action  the  various 
media  through  which  he  expresses  himself  to 
others.  Each  is  happy  to  draw  or  paint  or  tell  in 
oral  or  written  word  what  he  sees  and  what  it 
makes  him  think  about. 

This  spontaneous  picturing  and  telling  gives 
the  teacher  the  key  to  the  whole  group  of  lan- 
guage exercises.  The  generated  interest  made 
cumulative  by  expression  is  used  in  the  production 
of  the  tangible  practical  results  of  more  accu- 
rate, more  adequate,  and  more  effective  use  of 
the  English  language. 

Literary  embodiments  of  the  theme  remain 
the  ideal  of  the  cooperative  group,  —  the  ideal  to 
be  familiarized  by  continued  and  varied  contact. 
52 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

The  interest  roused  remains  the  dominant  force 
of  the  dictation  exercises  for  spelling,  paragraph- 
ing, and  punctuation ;  of  the  word-study  for  de- 
velopment of  vocabulary;  of  the  conversations 
for  use  of  the  larger  vocabulary  with  correct  pro- 
nunciation and  for  correct  use  of  grammatical 
forms ;  of  the  study  of  paragraph-making ;  of  re- 
citation of  poems  "  learned  by  heart "  ;  of  drama- 
tization ;  and  of  all  other  language  exercises  that 
make  up  the  lesson  units  of  the  group.  The  last 
of  the  series,  "  the  last  for  which  the  first  was 
planned,"  are  the  oral  and  the  written  composi- 
tion, the  fruit  of  each  individual's  response  to  the 
ideals  studied,  and  his  personal  effort  to  reach 
them. 

The  pupil  should  realize  that  something  of 
what  he  has  learned  in  his  out-of-door  life,  in  his 
lessons  in  nature  study,  geography,  history,  or 
any  other  content  study,  or  something  that  has 
come  to  him  through  his  relations  with  other 
lives  at  home  or  at  school,  has  furnished  him 
with  something  to  say.  And  he  may  early  real- 
ize that  through  "  exposure  "  to  what  has  been 
"  finely  said  "  by  another  he  catches  not  only  in- 
spiration to  try  to  tell  what  he  has  himself  seen 
and  felt,  but  with  it  he  catches  a  wider  vocabu- 
lary, a  finer  phraseology,  and  more  definite  ideas 
of  arranging  his  own  thoughts.  Through  his  own 
efforts  to  tell  well,  he  may  be  led  to  feel  his  need 

53 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

of  exercises  for  practice  in  the  use  of  oral  and 
written  forms  in  order  that  he  may  gain  skill  in 
handling  his  material. 

A  composition  is,  then,  the  natural  climax  of 
a  group  of  cooperative  lessons,  which  group  in- 
cludes a  piece  of  literature  to  bring  into  direct 
focus  both  phases  of  the  language  ideal,  —  (i)  the 
thought  and  feeling  to  be  quickened,  and  (2)  the 
forms  to  be  first  appreciated,  then  used  crea- 
tively. 

c.  Third  step :  criticizing  the  prevailing  faults 

The  composition  should  be  followed  by  class 
criticism  of  certain  prevailing  faults,  for  the 
stated  purpose  of  "doing  better  next  time." 
And  the  pupils  are  led  to  turn  to  the  literature 
that  furnishes  the  theme  for  their  standards  of 
comparison.  The  teacher  impersonally  presents 
the  wrong  selected  from  the  compositions  and 
points  to  the  right  in  the  literature  or  in  im- 
promptu renderings  that  give  the  correct  usage. 
Each  pupil  is  led  to  criticize  his  own  composi- 
tion in  respect  to  the  fault  under  consideration, 
by  comparison  with  the  true,  noting  the  faults 
or  excellencies  as  measured  by  the  standard  pre- 
sented. 

And  here  only  the  teacher  can  mark  out  the 
path.  The  ideal  of  the  textbook  in  language  is 
to  inspire,  stimulate,  develop,  and  guide  both  the 

54 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

interests  and  the  activities  of  the  teacher  and  the 
pupils.  The  teacher  is  the  live  factor  in  all  live 
teaching ;  and  especially  and  most  emphatically 
is  this  true  of  all  live  language  teaching,  in  which 
material  is  used  to  develop  the  self  to  be  ex- 
pressed and  the  adequacy  of  its  expression.  The 
teacher  alone  knows  the  special  conditions  of 
home  and  school  life  and  environment  which 
must  guide  in  adapting  and  supplementing  all 
material  to  meet  these  conditions. 

There  follow  groups  of  lessons  illustrating  the 
plan  outlined,  the  group  plan  of  cooperative  les- 
son units,  suggested  and  unified  by  the  right  use 
of  the  rightly  selected  piece  of  literature.  Such 
a  plan  is  built  on  principles  as  eternal  as  human 
life.  Among  them  are  the  laws  of  conservation 
of  energy  and  interrelation  of  forces,  —  laws  as 
operative  in  the  mental  as  in  the  material  world. 
But  the  teacher's  insight,  sympathy,  knowledge, 
understanding,  and  creative  ability  so  to  use  ma- 
terial as  to  minister  to  larger  life  and  more  effec- 
tive service  are  elements  of  the  wise  love  that  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law. 

Illustrative  group  of  cooperative  lessons 
a.  Nature  themes 

Suppose  the  theme  of  the  composition  is  to 
be  some  pleasant  out-of-door  autumn  experience. 
Study  and  discussion  of  Murillo's  picture,  "  The 

55 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

Melon  Eaters,"  or  of  Seefert's  "The  Harvesters' 
Return"  will  suggest  some  autumn  pleasures. 
In  such  word  pictures  as  those  of  Spenser  and 
Whittier  the  pupils  catch  the  true  spirit  of  the 
season.  These  poets  are  great  enough  to  see  as 
children  see.  They  show  us  Autumn  personified, 
laden  with  fruit  and  grains,  crowned  with  the 
harvest  sheaves  and  "laughing  out"  with  joy  in 
his  rich  gifts.  (In  comparison  with  this  happy 
autumn  mood  thus  caught  and  given  back  to  us, 
note  the  morbidness  from  the  child's  point  of 
view  of  a  poem  like  Bryant's  "  The  Death  of  the 
Flowers.")  To  these  pictures,  add  Charles  Dud- 
ley Warner's  whimsical  account  of  the  boys'  nut- 
gathering  on  a  New  England  farm.  Let  the 
pupils  listen  to  lines  from  James  Whitcomb 
Riley's  gleeful  autumn  songs,  closing  with  his 
suggestions  of  the  great  autumn  home  festival. 
Surely  in  the  mind  of  every  normal  child  some 
half-forgotten,  half -appreciated  good  time  in  this 
great  harvest  season  of  the  year  has  been  re- 
vivified and  clearly  outlined  by  association  with 
the  vivid  pictures  seen  through  the  words  of 
others.  Surely  every  pupil  now  feels  that  he  has 
something  of  interest  to  tell. 

In  the  manner  of  the  telling,  each  composition 
will  evidence  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  the  in- 
fluence of  the  literature  discussed.  To  this  are 
added  specific  exercises  for  the  use  of  certain 

56 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

correct  forms  of  speech  and  writing  to  be  used 
in  expressing  thoughts  related  to  the  composi- 
tion theme.  For  example,  in  this  group  there 
may  be  much  oral  repetition  of  statements  re- 
garding fruits,  each  sentence  to  embody  the  cor- 
rect use  of  the  word  seen  with  an  auxiliary.  The 
dictation  spelling  lesson,  while  contributing  to 
the  thought  of  the  theme,  may  also  emphasize 
the  use  of  the  capital  and  period  in  sentence- 
making. 

Such  a  group  of  lessons  is  a  definite  prepara- 
tion for  as  many  individual  compositions  as  there 
are  members  in  the  class.  Each  will  relate  an 
individual  autumn  experience  in  berrying,  nut- 
ting, haying,  harvesting,  or  some  other  kind  of 
fruit  gathering. 

For  a  series  of  such  groups  the  following  stories 
and  poems  may  well  illuminate  the  themes :  The 
old  Greek  story  of  "  Ceres  and  Proserpina  " ;  the 
"  Feast  of  Mondamin  "  from  "  Hiawatha  " ;  the 
poems  "October"  and  "Down  to  Sleep,"  by 
Helen  Hunt  Jackson ;  "  Harvest  Home  hi  Eng- 
land"; " The  First  Thanksgiving  in  America." 
As  previously  illustrated,  each  group  of  the  series 
will  have  its  specific  formal  exercises  for  definite 
practice  in  the  oral  use  of  certain  correct  forms 
of  speech,  and  the  use  in  writing  of  certain  marks 
of  punctuation ;  and  each  such  exercise  will  make 
a  definite  contribution  both  in  thought  and  form 

57 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

to  the  writing  of  the  composition.  And  this  com- 
position, with  the  exercises  in  class  criticism  of 
what  has  been  written,  make  the  climax  of  the 
group.  And  here  we  have  the  self-expression 
that  manifests  the  degree  of  language  power 
each  has  attained  as  the  result  of  the  coopera- 
tion of  all  previous  impressions  and  efforts.  On 
the  language  side,  it  is  the  resultant  of  vital  con- 
tact with  the  ideals  and  practice  in  striving  to 
reach  them. 

b.  Historical  themes 

Again,  the  first  preparation  for  many  compo- 
sitions is  made  in  the  history  lessons.  For  in- 
stance, the  pupil  has  read  and  discussed  some  of 
the  famous  explorations,  legendary  and  histori- 
cal, —  among  them  those  of  Columbus.  He  learns 
Joaquin  Miller's  "Columbus,"  and  catches  the 
indomitable  spirit  of  the  great  man  who  did  ever 
cry,  "  Sail  on,  sail  on,  sail  on  and  on ! "  while 
his  men  grew  mutinous,  "  grew  ghastly  wan  and 
weak,"  while  fierce  winds  blew  and  nights  were 
dark  and  the  "  mad  sea  showed  its  teeth."  Copy- 
ing the  poem  not  only  helps  to  fix  it  in  memory, 
but  also  helps  to  interpret  and  to  establish  in 
habit  the  correct  use  of  exclamation  marks,  and 
of  quotation  marks.  Writing  from  dictation  a 
quoted  paragraph  of  vivid  and  forcible  descrip- 
tion of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  "the  first  man  to 

58 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

carry  the  English  flag  into  the  Pacific,"  may  be 
used  to  show  how  to  describe  a  person.  It  will 
also  enlarge  the  vocabulary  of  descriptive  adjec- 
tives needed  to  picture  a  man  of  the  pioneer  type. 
This  group  may  well  include  a  lesson  requiring 
the  correct  use  of  forms  of  eight  or  ten  verbs 
used  in  the  poem  "Columbus."  These  lessons 
cannot  fail  to  help  the  pupil  to  give  oral  and 
written  accounts  of  other  explorers,  explorations, 
and  discoveries  ;  they  will  help  him  to  write  para- 
graphs giving  his  mental  pictures  of  legendary 
and  historical  persons. 

c.  Geographical  themes 

Let  us  consider  the  value  of  geography  lessons 
in  laying  the  foundation  of  a  series  of  language 
lessons.  Let  us  assume  that  the  boys  and  girls 
have  studied  several  rivers :  have  traced  their 
courses ;  have  noted  the  explorations  and  settle- 
ments following  these  river  paths ;  have  noted 
the  different  ways  in  which  streams  are  useful 
to  man.  Perhaps  they  have  associated  certain 
rivers  with  the  thoughts  or  the  homes  of  poets 
and  prose-writers.  Note  the  language  values  of 
the  following  lessons. 

Find  as  many  stories  and  poems  as  you  can 
about  springs,  brooks,  rivulets,  and  rivers.  Each 
pupil  may  select  a  poem  to  read  aloud,  or  a  story 
to  tell  to  the  class.  Select  pictures  to  illustrate 

59 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

the  stories  and  poems.  (Perhaps  the  teacher 
reads  to  the  class  from  Henry  van  Dyke's  Little 
Rivers?) 

Give  an  account  of  the  early  explorations  of 
the  Hudson ;  of  the  Mississippi ;  of  the  Columbia; 
of  a  river  in  your  own  part  of  the  country. 

Tell  a  story  connected  with  a  brook  or  river ; 
—  perhaps  a  legend  of  the  Hudson ;  or  of  the 
Mississippi ;  or  a  story  of  one  of  the  early  settle- 
ments on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Tell  about  the  home  of  Hawthorne  or  Emer- 
son on  the  Concord  River  ;  or  of  John  Burroughs 
or  Washington  Irving  on  the  Hudson  ;  or  of 
Longfellow,  Lowell,  or  Holmes  on  the  river 
Charles. 

Learn  by  heart  Sidney  Lanier's  "  Song  of  the 
Chattahoochee."  "  Learning  by  heart  "  implies 

(1)  vivid  seeing  of  the  poet's  pictures  through 

(2)  sympathetic  entering  into  the  feeling  of  the 
poet ;  and  (3)  fixing  the  pictures  in  memory  in 
the  exact  words  of  the  writer.    To   write  this 
poem  correctly  from  memory  requires  a  certain 
mastery  in  the  use  of  quotation  marks  and  of  the 
comma.    Study  of  the  word   pictures  increases 
appreciation  of  the  figurative  use  of  words  that 
marks  the  poetic  touch  ;  it  makes  for  keener  dis- 
crimination of  word  values  ;  it  quickens  the  re- 
sponse to  the  music  of  sound  and  rhythm. 

An  oral  exercise  of  this  group  for  correct  use 
60 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

of  word  forms  would  naturally  deal  with  differ- 
ent forms  of  such  verbs  as  run,  flow,  rise  and 
raise. 

Composition  subjects  for  individual  expression 
(not  reproductive)  may  be  suggested  as  follows : — 

Give  an  account  of  a  fishing  trip ;  a  canoe  trip; 
a  picnic  by  a  river ;  or  tell  about  a  camping  ex- 
perience. 

Imagine  that  you  have  made  a  small  sailboat ; 
that  you  name  it  and  set  it  afloat  on  the  stream 
nearest  your  home  ;  that  while  it  is  on  its  way  to 
the  sea  a  storm  rises.  Write  some  of  the  adven- 
tures of  your  imaginary  boat. 

Write  a  letter  to  a  friend  to  describe  an  imag- 
inary trip  on  a  river.  Tell  what  you  see  along 
the  river's  banks ;  and  in  the  last  paragraph  tell 
of  its  greatest  values  to  the  people  living  near  it. 

d.  Mythological  themes 

The  King  Arthur  stories  furnish  themes  for 
groups  of  lessons  of  great  interest  and  value  to 
boys  and  girls  of  all  grades  ;  but  they  make  spe- 
cial appeal  to  the  often  latent  chivalry  of  boys  in 
the  self-conscious,  undemonstrative  period  of  their 
lives.  These  stories  afford  the  best  possible  means 
of  developing  self-control,  courage,  protection  of 
the  weak  and  wronged,  and  care  for  the  suffer- 
ing, while  as  the  basis  of  language  lessons  they 
develop  language  power. 
6l 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

The  stories  of  the  Knights  of  the  Round 
Table  read  both  in  class  and  at  home  will  gene- 
rate most  interesting  class  reproductions  and 
discussions.  The  children  will  listen  with  keenest 
delight  to  Tennyson's  pictures  of  knighthood  as 
set  to  musical  sound  in  his  "  Idylls  of  the  King." 
Excellent  dictation  lessons  may  be  selected  from 
this  poem  and  from  Sir  Thomas  Malory,  or  from 
Lanier's  "  The  Boy's  King  Arthur."  The  class 
may  learn  by  heart  and  write  from  memory  the 
oath  of  knighthood  :  "  I  will  be  faithful  to  God 
and  loyal  to  the  King.  I  will  reverence  all  women. 
I  will  ever  protect  the  pure  and  helpless.  I  will 
never  engage  in  unholy  wars.  I  will  never  seek 
to  exalt  myself  to  the  injury  of  others.  I  will 
speak  the  truth  and  deal  justly  with  all  men." 
Study  of  the  use  of  "  I  will "  in  this  oath  of 
knighthood  is  an  excellent  preparation  for  a  series 
of  studies  in  the  use  of  "shall"  and  "will." 

An  exercise  for  discriminating  use  of  such 
descriptive  words  as  will  be  needed  in  writing 
the  compositions  of  this  group  is  illustrated  be- 
low:— 

Copy  the  words  in  the  following  lists,  and 
write  after  each  a  word  of  opposite  meaning. 

In  class,  give  sentences  using  the  words  in  the 
given  lists  to  describe  some  character  in  story, 
poem,  or  real  life.  Discuss  and  compare  the  words 
of  opposite  meaning. 

62 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 


fearless 

daring 

pure 

noble 

unselfish 

heroic 

courageous 

brave 

chivalrous 

manly 

stout-hearted 

valiant 

strong 

courteous 

gentle 

high-spirited 

gallant 

truthful 

just 

adventurous 

kind 

true 

honorable 

Lowell's  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal"  should  at 
this  time  deepen  the  children's  vision  of  the 
beauty  and  real  significance  of  knighthood.  (This 
is  to  recommend  not  an  intensive  study  of  the 
poem  at  this  time  but  a  sympathetic  appreciation 
of  its  pictures  and  their  meaning.) 

Suggested  themes  for  composition  writing : — 

Write  a  story  of  any  of  King  Arthur's  knights. 
(Be  sure  that  your  opening  sentences  tell  the 
time,  the  place,  and  the  most  important  person 
or  persons  of  the  story.) 

Write  a  paragraph  about  "The  Search  for  the 
Holy  GraiL" 

Write  a  story  of  a  boy  or  a  girl  who  wanted  to 
do  great  things  and  neglected  to  do  the  duties 
that  lay  nearest.  (In  your  story,  show  that  the 
boy  or  girl  learns  the  same  lesson  that  Sir 
Launfal  learned.) 

Write  a  true  story  of  a  deed  of  some  man  or 
woman,  which  deed  shows  the  true  spirit  of 
knighthood. 

Write  an  account,  true  or  imagined,  of  the 
knightly  deed  of  a  boy.  Perhaps  he  rescued  an 

63 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

abused  animal ;  perhaps  he  was  kind  to  an  aged 
man  or  woman  who  needed  his  help ;  perhaps  he 
befriended  a  child  weaker  than  himself. 

Similarly,  the  story  of  Ulysses,  of  Siegfried, 
and  of  Beowulf  may  be  used  to  unify  groups  of 
cooperative  lesson  units.  And  every  sane  boy  re- 
vels in  Mabie's  "Norse  Stories."  The  charm  is 
heightened  by  associating  the  stories  with  such 
word-pictures  as  are  found  in  Longfellow's  "  Saga 
of  King  Olaf  "  and  Lowell's  "Reply  to  the  Chal- 
lenge of  Thor."  (These  should  be  read  aloud  to 
the  class.)  In  this  connection,  Henry  van  Dyke's 
story  of  "  The  Oak  of  Geismar  "  from  "  The  First 
Christmas  Tree "  is  also  greatly  appreciated. 
Collections  of  pictures  showing  mythological  con- 
ceptions of  artists  add  to  the  interest.  Intelligent 
discussion  of  pictures  has  great  culture  value  on 
the  side  of  language  as  well  as  of  art  apprecia- 
tion. 

Three  important  suggestions 

It  is  an  established  fact  that  pupils  read  more 
intelligently  and  sympathetically  and  express 
themselves  not  only  more  correctly  but  also  more 
adequately  as  their  teachers  grow  in  the  under- 
standing of  the  threefold  truth :  (i)  that  reading 
and  language  lessons,  though  often  separately 
indicated  on  the  school  program,  are  truly  parts 
of  one  whole ;  (2)  that  reading  in  school  means 
the  reading  of  literature ;  (3)  that  study  of  liter- 


COOPERATIVE  LESSONS 

ature  furnishes  the  inspiration  and  models  for  the 
language  study. 

In  the  best  schools,  the  application  of  these 
truths  in  the  primary  grades  has  become  a  mat- 
ter of  practice.  On  entering  school,  children  clasp 
hands  with  Eugene  Field,  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son, and  other  poets  of  childhood.  They  live  with 
Hiawatha.  The  classic  fables,  fairy  stories,  and 
folklore,  with  the  poems  that  appeal  to  child- 
life,  not  only  "tie  together"  the  exercises  in 
telling,  in  reading,  and  in  drawing  with  the  songs, 
games,  and  handwork,  but  they  also  nourish  each 
child's  growing  life  and  fill  his  mind  with  vivid 
pictures  of  something  worth  seeing  and  sharing. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  child's  language 
power  grows  with  himself  and  he  with  it.  To 
stand  out  before  a  class,  look  into  the  eyes  of  the 
listeners,  and  with  freedom  from  self-conscious- 
ness to  reproduce  a  story  or  recite  a  poem  learned 
by  heart  means  development  of  reading  ability 
and  of  language  power.  But  the  final  telling  a 
story  of  his  own  experience  or  imagination  (sug- 
gested and  molded  by  the  familiar  stories  and 
poems)  is  the  individual  oral  composition  that  is 
self-expression. 

Walt  Whitman  has  given  us  some  lines  in 
which  he  has  written  large  the  psychology  of 
the  impression  half  of  the  impression-expression 
circuit :  — 

65 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"  There  was  a  boy  went  forth  every  day 
And  the  first  object  he  saw  that  object  he  became ; 

Or  that  object  became  a  part  of  him 

For  that  day  or  for  a  certain  part  of  the  day ; 

Or  for  years  or  stretching  cycles  of  years 
The  early  lilacs  became  a  part  of  him." 

A  part  of  the  psychology  of  the  expression 
half  of  the  circuit  is  found  in  the  words,  "  Out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speak- 
eth."  To  this  must  be  added  the  truth  that  the 
manner  of  speaking  is  fashioned  by  conscious 
and  unconscious  imitation  of  language  ideals. 

We  may  be  pardoned  for  wresting  to  our  use 
Emerson's  injunction  "Hitch  your  wagon  to  a 
star."  Mastery  of  the  language  art  is  the  star  to 
which  are  hitched  the  wagons  of  all  the  language 
lessons.  "  Pulling  singly  "  will  mark  time ;  "  pull- 
ing together  "  will  mark  progress. 


TRAINING    TO  HABITUAL    USE    OF    CORRECT 
FORMS 

The  need  of  skill  in  using  the  medium  of 
communication 

IN  any  discussion  of  any  phase  of  language 
teaching,  we  shall  remember  that  the  high  pur- 
pose of  this  teaching  is  to  develop  each  pupil's 
power  to  communicate  his  thought  and  feeling. 
We  shall  not  forget  that,  in  every  art,  the  first 
essential  is  something  within  the  self  to  be  ex- 
pressed ;  that,  in  every  art,  tlhere  's  all  the  differ- 
ence in  the  world  between  having  something  to 
say  and  having  to  say  something.!  But  "  tctha^e 
something  to  say"  is  the  first,  not  the  only,  es- 
sential. To  say  it  so  truly,  so  clearly,  so  forcibly 
that  it  shall  take  hold  of  another  mind  is  the  sec- 
ond requisite  ;  and  ability  to  do  this  depends  upon 
the  degree  of  mastery  of  technique,  —  of  skill  in 
using  the  medium  of  communication. 

This  twofold  law  applies  with  special  emphasis 

to  the  one  great  universal  art  of  self-expression 

in  words.  Here  is  the  medium  that  all, — rich, 

poor,  high,  low,  white,  black,  yellow,  or  brown, — 

67 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

all  must  use  in  finding  fellowship.  In  all  com- 
munity-life, —  in  every  land  and  in  every  age,  — 
asking  for  bread  or  for  friendship,  working  or 
playing,  sharing  sorrows  or  joys,  —  every  human 
being  enters  into  life  relations  by  means  of  words. 
Words  are  the  universal  symbols  of  cooperation, 
of  sympathy,  of  brotherhood.  Inevitably,  when 
one's  thought  reaches  out  to  find  lodgment  in  the 
mind  of  another,  it  takes  shape  in  a  group  of 
words.  Whether  it  shall  "fall  by  the  wayside" 
or  "  spring  up  in  good  ground  "  and  bear  fruit 
depends  in  large  measure  on  the  adequacy  of  its 
word  expression.  This  is  the  body  of  the  thought 
through  which  its  soul  is  manifested  or  obscured. 
And,  in  the  words  of  Colonel  Parker,  "while 
form  without  thought  is  barren,  thought  without 
form  is  mushy."  Neither  "  mushy  "  nor  uncouth 
language  can  carry  "  the  live  coal  that  kindles." 
While,  therefore,  it  remains  eternally  true  that 
the  first  step  in  the  development  of  language 
power  is  to  rouse  clear  thought  with  its  accom- 
panying feeling,  —  it  also  remains  eternally  true 
that  to  develop  this  power  is  to  give  increased 
mastery  of  vocabulary,  of  phraseology,  of  ac- 
cepted and  universally  understood  grammatical 
forms.  In  previous  chapters  we  have  discussed 
the  first  great  essential ;  in  this  chapter  we  shall 
discuss  the  form-mastery  phase  of  language 
growth. 

68 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

Mastery  of  form  implies  habitual  use  of 
speech  forms 

Mastery  of  form  implies  the  habitual  use  of 
"the  true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good"  ;  habit 
is  the  result  of  repeated  use ;  and  the  speech 
forms  used  by  each  individual  are  those  his  ear 
has  furnished  him.  Let  us  say  this  backward  as 
well  as  forward  ;  it  embodies  our  theme.  Through 
the  ear,  we  get  our  words  and  phrases,  we  "  catch  " 
our  ways  of  saying  things;  by  use  in  unconscious 
and  conscious  imitation  we  make  these  our  own ; 
by  repeated  use  we  fix  them  in  habit. 

The  fact  that  each  person  adds  to  his  language 
stock  and  molds  its  form  by  silent  reading  does 
not  gainsay  the  statement  that  his  ear  furnishes 
his  speech.  Is  it  not  true  that  one  incorporates 
into  his  own  language  the  word  expressions  he 
reads  only  when  he  mentally  hears  the  words  he 
sees  ?  A  bright  educational  lecturer  has  said  that 
"from  ear  to  mouth  is  the  short  circuit."  In  si- 
lent reading  the  "  circuit "  is  from  eye  and  ear  to 
mouth,  the  connection  between  the  first  two 
being  a  lightning  flash. 

We  quote  further :  "  From  ear  through  arm  to 
mouth  is  the  long,  indirect  circuit."  We  need 
this  reminder  of  Nature's  plans.  To  attempt  to 
establish  habitual  use  of  correct  speech  forms  by 
correction  of  errors  on  paper  is  not  only  the 

69 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"  long  circuit "  waste  of  energy  and  time ;  it  is 
as  futile  as  the  child's  attempt  to  check  the  in- 
coming tide  with  his  toy  spade.  To  the  pupil  it 
becomes  a  tiresome,  mechanical  task,  without 
initiative  on  his  part,  to  continue  to  "  correct " 
on  paper  the  mistakes  he  "knew  better"  than 
to  make,  but  which  "  wrote  themselves  "  out  of 
his  daily  speech.  Errors  "at  home"  in  one's 
oral  language  invariably  make  themselves  "at 
home"  in  his  written  language.  Whenever  the 
mind  is  occupied  with  the  thought  to  be  ex- 
pressed, the  pen  is  sure  to  record  the  habits  of 
the  tongue.  Experience  has  always  taught  this. 

By  the  study  of  physiological  psychology,  we 
discover  that  the  human  body  bears  testimony 
to  these  facts  of  experience.  Nature  has  written 
large  and  written  deep  in  spinal  cord  and  brain 
the  certain  reaction  of  the  out-going  motor  im- 
pulse to  complete  the  impression  of  the  incoming 
sound  waves,  as  well  as  to  complete  the  ideas 
these  sounds  bring  in  to  the  mind.  With  equal 
plainness,  Nature  records  the  tendency  to  repeat 
a  motor  activity  until  its  path  is  cut  so  deep  that 
the  spinal  cord  finally  attends  to  the  act  and 
leaves  the  brain  to  the  service  of  higher  mental 
activities.  Not  until  the  word  forms  accepted 
and  adopted  by  speakers  and  writers  of  the  best 
English  are  taken  care  of  by  the  spinal  cord,  are 
they  habitually  used.  It  is  his  motor  habits  that 
70 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

"set"  the  language  of  each  person  in  its  own 
individual  mold. 

So  to  him  who  would  master  the  technique  of 
word  expression  both  science  and  experience 
plainly  say:  Put  yourself  where  you  will  hear 
the  right ;  say  it ;  say  it  again  and  again  and 
again.  Listen  to  it  until  it  "  sounds  right  "and 
natural ;  until  the  needle  of  the  ear  compass  swings 
ever  true  to  the  correct  sound  and  is  sensitive  to 
the  incorrect.  Then  say  it  until  the  motor  reac- 
tion is  so  automatic  that  the  right  form  says 
itself  while  the  mind  is  engaged  with  its  thought 
content. 

Good  English  is  born  of  familiarity 

It  is  evident  that  the  use  of  good  English  is 
born  of  familiarity.  From  the  first  day  of  school 
to  the  last,  every  pupil  should  be  daily  "exposed" 
to  the  literature  that  belongs  to  him  at  any  given 
stage  of  his  growth,  because  the  literature  right- 
fully his  exerts  the  highest  and  strongest  influence 
in  both  the  thought  and  the  form-phases  of  his 
language  development.  This  daily  contact  would 
insure  the  pupil's  habitual  use  of  correct  and 
adequate  forms  of  expression  if,  in  addition,  he 
heard  only  good  language  at  home,  at  school, 
and  at  play.  To  come  daily  into  one's  inheritance 
of  the  best  that  has  been  thought  and  done  and 
said,  and  to  live  in  daily  close  association  with 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

those  who  have  something  to  say  and  "say  it 
finely,"  and  with  no  other,  would  be  to  gain  con- 
stantly increasing  power  over  the  word,  the  sen- 
tence, and  the  paragraph  as  media  of  expression. 
Under  these  conditions,  language  teaching  would 
be  relieved  of  what  some  teachers  have  called  its 
drudgery  side. 

Special  obstacles  necessitate  definite  habit-forming 
exercises 

But  a  few  unpleasant  facts  get  in  the  way  of 
this  happy  issue  out  of  our  language  difficulties. 
At  seven  years  of  age,  each  child  has  passed 
through  his  nascent  language-making  years.  He 
has  passed  through  the  period  of  keenest  re- 
sponse to  sound,  —  the  period  when  impulse  to 
motor  imitation  holds  well-nigh  absolute  sway. 
And  during  these  language-making  years,  vast 
numbers  of  children  in  America  never  hear  any 
good  English ;  still  greater  numbers  never  hear 
the  best.  We  face  conditions  peculiar  to  our  own 
country ;  we  must  meet  them  as  they  are. 

In  thousands  of  homes  a  foreign  language  is 
spoken;  in  hundreds  of  thousands,  a  sort  of 
home-made  combination  of  English  with  one  or 
two  other  tongues  ;  in  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  homes  most  flagrant  violations  of  all  laws  of 
form  are  heard.  And,  in  addition  to  the  positively 
wrong  to  which  they  have  been  subjected,  the 
72 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

great  majority  of  American  children  have  heard 
only  a  meager,  commonplace,  if  not  coarse,  vo- 
cabulary. In  fact,  it  is  the  rare  home  and  the  rare 
schoolroom  in  which  one  habitually  hears  true, 
virile  English.  Even  from  parents  and  teachers 
whose  college  diplomas  certify  that  they  are 
highly  educated,  one  often  hears  the  discordant 
note,  the  result  of  early  habits  combined  with 
weak  or  spasmodic  or  no  effort  to  overcome 
them.  From  the  same  cause  it  is  not  unusual  to 
hear  even  from  the  university  chair  and  the 
public  platform  the  insidious,  slovenly  inaccu- 
racies of  speech  that  have  crept  in  and  have 
become  domesticated. 

Consideration  of  these  influences  and  the 
inevitableness  of  their  results  may  help  us  to 
understand  why  our  children  come  to  the  school 
with  so  much  language  equipment  to  get,  and  so 
much  to  get  rid  of.  It  shows  us  why  training  to 
skill  in  the  use  of  correct  forms  is  a  matter  of 
overcoming  bad  habits  by  establishing  the  good 
in  their  place;  and  why,  in  the  schoolroom,  con- 
tact with  the  best  must  be  supplemented  by 
definite  habit-forming  exercises. 

The  habit  of  correct  usage  should  be  an 
increasingly  intelligent  usage 

To  do  this  part  of  the  work  well  requires  thor- 
ough, accurate,  systematized  knowledge  of  the 

73 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

use  of  forms ;  it  also  requires  careful  planning  to 
give  the  pupils  the  systematic  practice  needed. 
Nothing  but  persistent  oral  repetition  of  the 
correct  form  will  overcome  the  habit  of  using 
incorrect,  ungrammatical,  and  inelegant  expres- 
sions in  daily  speech.  These  are  matters  of  ear 
training  and  of  motor  habits,  as  well  as  of  knowl- 
edge. As  long  as  errors  persist  in  a  person's 
speech,  they  will  persist  in  what  he  writes  when 
full  of  his  subject.  The  cure  for  such  faults,  then, 
whether  of  speech  or  writing,  is  in  oral  repeti- 
tion. Exercises  for  this  purpose  should  be  con- 
versational; the  more  of  a  game  element  in 
them,  the  better ;  they  may,  at  times,  be  some- 
what gymnastic  in  their  nature.  They  should  be 
short,  lively,  and  practiced  daily. 

But  this  habit  of  correct  usage  should  be  an 
increasingly  intelligent  usage.  The  following 
general  plan  for  the  daily  practice  exercises  is 
recommended  as  sound  in  principle  and  service- 
able in  practice:  (i)  provide  for  exercises  that 
require  correct  use  of  a  form  commonly  misused; 
(2)  call  attention  to  the  form  used  and  the  man- 
ner of  using  ;  (3)  secure  repetition  of  the  correct 
form;  (4)  ask  pupils  to  tell  what  form  has  been 
used  and  how  it  was  used ;  (5)  lead  to  a  simple 
statement  of  a  direction  for  its  use ;  (6)  require 
further  repetition  to  fix  habit.  This  plan  may  be 
followed  in  the  study  of  written  forms  in  the 

74 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

dictation  of  exercises  as  well  as  with  the  oral  ex- 
ercises. 

The  futility  of  reliance  on  rules  of  grammar 

Much  past  teaching  has  been  based  on  the 
theory  that  rules  of  grammar  would  do  the  work. 
Pupils  have  glibly  recited  the  rules  of  syntax 
from  I  to  L,  and  fifty  times  a  day  have  broken 
the  fifty  rules.  And  the  teacher  —  has  wondered 
why !  Rules  of  grammar  do  not  fashion  speech ; 
they  record  its  crystallization.  They  never  es- 
tablish habits  of  correct  usage ;  they  may  serve 
to  make  that  usage  more  intelligent  and  self- 
directive.  They  throw  light  on  the  path  of  effort, 
but  it  is  the  effort,  the  determined  effort  and  the 
repeated  effort  that  conquers.  Knowledge  of  the 
rule  would  be  sufficient  "  if  to  do  were  as  easy 
as  to  know  what 't  were  good  to  do."  When  the 
child  said,  "Can  I  have  a  piece  of  pie?"  "May 
I ! "  corrected  the  mother.  Then  the  child  said, 
"  May  I  have  a  piece  of  pie  ? "  and  the  mother 
answered,  "  Yes,  you  can."  The  knowing  mind 
said  "  may  "  ;  the  spinal  cord  said  "  can  "  ;  there- 
fore the  tongue  said  "can." 

The  restoration  of  an  old-fashioned  treatment  of 
language  teaching. 

Doctors  do  not  disagree  with  this  diagnosis  of 
conditions.  Is  there,  then,  a  prescription  for  the 

75 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

remedy  ?  If  so,  are  the  results  guaranteed  ?  As 
form  study  more  readily  than  content  study 
lends  itself  to  prescriptions,  a  plan  is  outlined 
which  has  the  following  recommendations :  (i) 
It  is  built  upon  the  facts  and  principles  set  forth 
in  this  paper ;  (2)  its  value  has  been  proved  in  the 
practical  experience  of  the  most  successful  teach- 
ers of  language  in  all  countries ;  (3)  it  has  been 
in  use  for  many  years.  It  bears  no  original  stamp, 
—  is  no  patent  process.  It  is  an  old-fashioned 
feature  of  language  teaching  that,  like  the  good 
old  orthodox  multiplication  table,  has  been  lost 
out  of  some  schools.  There  will  be  more  effective 
economy  of  time  and  energy  when  these  and 
some  other  lost  articles  of  form  study  are  found 
and  restored  to  their  proper  places  as  involving 
necessary  practice  for  automatic  mastery  of  means 
and  tools. 

Eight  practical  suggestions 

The  following  practical  suggestions  are  writ- 
ten in  the  second  person  for  the  sake  of  direct- 
ness ;  they  are  not  written  in  dogmatic  mood. 

First.  Make  a  list  of  the  errors  of  speech 
common  among  your  pupils  and  in  the  school 
neighborhood.  Keep  this  list  in  mind  through- 
out the  year.  Add  to  it  as  an  epidemic  error 
appears. 

It  is  significant  that  in  a  collection  of  several 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

hundred  such  lists  made  by  teachers  of  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  children  in  various  localities 
and  under  widely  varying  circumstances,  the  uni- 
versality of  certain  groups  of  errors  is  strikingly 
shown.  With  the  elimination  of  a  few  localisms, 
any  one  of  the  lists  would  be  a  good  working 
basis  for  all,  to  be  supplemented  in  each  school 
by  the  few  localisms  of  its  neighborhood. 

All  note  among  common  errors  in  the  use  of 
tense,  person,  and  number  forms  of  verbs,  —  the 
forms  of  see,  go,  come,  become,  do,  write,  run,  lie, 
lay,  sit,  set,  sing,  ring,  bring,  buy,  begin,  know, 
grow,  throw,  blow,  fall,  fly,  take,  speak,  break, 
teach,  think,  catch,  fight,  rise,  raise,  freeze,  eatt 
bite,  drink,  drive,  ride,  and  be. 

All  note  common  use  of  the  incorrect  for  the 
correct  personal  pronoun  forms :  — 

(1)  in  the  predicate  in  such  expressions  as  "  It 
is  I"; 

(2)  after  certain  prepositions  in  such  expres- 
sions as  "  Between  you  and  me  (him,  her) "  ; 

(3)  after  "  than  "  in  such  sentences  as  "  He  is 
older  than  I." 

And  nearly  all  lists  record  the  frequent  incor- 
rect use  of  this,  that,  these,  those,  them;  each, 
every,  few,  fewer,  little,  less  ;  many,  much,  most, 
almost ;  some,  somewhat,  real,  rather,  very  ;  bet- 
ter, best,  worse,  worst;  good,  well,  bad,  badly ; 
without,  unless ;  between,  among ;  in,  into;  at,  to; 

77 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

no,  none  ;  either,  or;  neither,  nor ;  like,  as  ;  who, 
whom  ;  may,  can  ;  will  and  shall. 

Second.  Plan  a  systematic  series  of  daily  oral 
exercises,  each  to  have  the  particular  purpose 
of  overcoming  a  particular  fault  noted  on  your 
list.  Plan  it  thoughtfully  and  follow  it  persist- 
ently. 

Third.  Inspire  the  pupils  with  a  desire  to  speak 
correctly,  and  lead  them  to  feel  that  these  exer- 
cises will  help  them  to  do  so,  just  as  daily  practice 
helps  them  to  play  good  baseball  or  football. 

When  quite  young,  the  writer  learned  this 
lesson  experimentally.  Her  teacher  was  a  man, 
now  known,  respected,  and  loved  throughout  the 
educational  world.  In  his  grammar  class,  she 
easily  carried  the  100%  banner  in  parsing,  ana- 
lysis, and  recitation  of  rules.  As  fast  as  "the 
waters  come  down  at  Lodore"  she  could  pour 
out  the  words  of  the  rule  for  the  use  of  the  pred- 
icate-nominative, and  the  nominative  forms  of  the 
personal  pronouns.  But  alas !  the  same  tongue 
was  ready  to  say  in  the  same  breath,  "  It  was  me 
that  said  that  rule."  "  It  was  me  (him,  her) " 
had  already  made  the  "short  circuit "  and  beaten 
the  path. 

The  wise  teacher  said  to  her,  "Will  you  for 
one  week  say  'It  is  I,'  many,  many  times  every 
day  ?  Will  you  keep  repeating  it  as  many  times 
as  you  can  say  it  in  a  minute  and  make  as  many 

78 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

of  these  minute  opportunities  as  you  can  every 
day  for  a  week  ? " 

"I  will,"  she  said,  "but  I  don't  think  I  shall 
ever  say  it  to  or  before  anybody.  '  It  is  I '  sounds 
to  me  like  '  putting  on  airs.'  " 

"  Never  mind  that  now ;  just  do  as  I  ask,"  was 
the  reply. 

The  consequences  were :  ( i )  "  It  is  I "  no  longer 
sounded  affected ;  (2)  "  It  is  me  "  became  intol- 
erable to  the  ear,  and  impossible  to  the  tongue. 
She  was  cured.  And  since  that  time  she  has 
used  this  formula  and  cured  herself  of  many  a 
tendency  to  use  a  doubtful  or  an  incorrect  form. 

To  convince  pupils  that  we  ourselves  use  the 
remedy  we  prescribe  often  inspires  them  to 
greater  zeal,  faith,  and  effort. 

Fourth.  Make  the  exercise  short  (three  to  five 
minutes)  and  lively. 

Fifth.  Make  it  the  main  purpose  of  this  daily 
exercise  to  have  every  pupil  individually  use  as 
many  times  as  possible  the  correct  form  chosen 
for  the  day's  practice. 

Sixth.  Require  sensible  sentences,  with  some 
"  point "  to  them.  Introducing  the  game  element 
helps  give  the  "point." 

Suppose,  for  example,  the  teacher  or  a  pupil 
has  recited  to  a  primary  class  from  Stevenson's 
"  Foreign  Lands," 


79 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

"  Up  into  the  cherry  tree 
Who  should  climb  but  little  me  ? 
I  held  the  trunk  with  both  my  hands 
And  looked  abroad  on  foreign  lands. 

"  I  saw  the  next  door  garden  lie 
Adorned  with  flowers,  before  my  eye, 
And  many  pleasant  places  more 
That  I  had  never  seen  before. 

"  I  saw  the  climbing  river  pass 
And  be  the  ship's  blue  looking  glass, 
The  dusty  roads  go  up  and  down 
With  people  tramping  in  to  town. 

"  If  I  could  find  a  higher  tree 
Farther  and  farther  I  should  see,  — " 


(Teacher  to  children) ; 

" '  Play '  you  found  that  higher  tree  out  in  the 
school  yard  or  on  a  high  hill ;  you  climbed  to  its 
top  and  looked  above,  below,  and  away,  —  as  far 
as  you  could  see.  Now  you  have  come  back  to 
tell  us  what  you  saw.  Just  as  fast  as  you  can 
talk,  one  after  the  other  may  tell  what  he  saw. 
Each  may  begin  with  '  I  saw.'  " 

Then,  "  Each  may  tell  of  *  pleasant  places'  that 

he  had  never  seen  before."  ("I  saw that  I 

had  never  seen  before.") 

Again,  "Each  in  this  row  may  tell  what  the 
pupil  across  the  aisle  (or  at  right  or  left)  saw  or 

has  seen."  ("Frank  saw  [has  seen] .") 

80 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

"  Each  may  tell  what  he  has  seen  from  the 

top  of  a  hill."  ("  From  the  top  of I  have 

seen .") 

"In  each  alternate  row  pupils  may  try  to  re- 
member what  those  in  the  opposite  row  have 
seen,  and  tell  the  school."  ("They  have  seen  a 
river,  fields,  hills,  houses,  children,  etc.") 

All  of  the  so-called  sense-training  games  in 
the  primary  school  should  be  language-training 
games ;  and  similar  exercises  adapted  to  older 
children  should  be  continued  throughout  the 
grades.  The  possible  devices  are  innumerable. 

Seventh.  After  their  repeated  use,  in  sensible 
sentences,  call  attention  to  the  forms  used  and 
the  manner  of  using.  Simple  rules  may  be  made 
by  the  pupils. 

For  example,  after  repeated  use  of  two  verb- 
forms  like  saw,  seen,  —  went,  gone,  —  or  came, 
come,  —  the  pupils  may  be  led  to  note  the  differ- 
ences in  the  use  of  these  forms.  The  teacher  may 
ask,  which  is  used  with  has  or  have?  Which, 
without  ?  The  children  may  frame  a  very  simple 
direction  :  as,  "  Of  the  two  words  saw  and  seen, 
use  seen,  and  not  saw,  with  has  or  have''  Older 
pupils  that  have  acquired  a  grammar  vocabulary 
will  perhaps  make  this  rule :  "  Use  seen  with  has, 
have,  or  had  to  form  a  verb-phrase.  Use  saw 
without  a  helping  verb  to  denote  past  time." 

But  it  must  be  kept  in  mind,  as  has  been  said, 
8l 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

that  while  this  formulated  statement  may  help 
to  more  definite  purpose,  to  more  self-directive 
effort,  it  is  the  repeated  hearing  and  using  that 
establishes  the  habit. 

Eighth.  Vary  the  exercises  as  much  as  possible 
within  the  limit  of  the  general  plan.  Have  the 
pupils  frequently  read  aloud  sentences  containing 
the  desired  correct  forms.  These  sentences  may 
be  read  sometimes  from  books,  sometimes  from 
the  board.  Chronic  cases  may  be  asked  to  read 
rapidly  the  same  five  or  six  sentences  for  several 
days ;  perhaps  more  than  once  a  day.  Under 
right  school  conditions,  it  takes  but  a  part  of 
a  minute.  Sometimes  one  pupil  may  read  the 
selected  sentences,  and  another  listen  and  repeat 
from  memory.  The  resourceful  teacher  will  have 
many  devices  for  "keeping  up  steam"  to  keep 
the  machinery  moving.  Pupils  often  suggest  ex- 
cellent exercises  for  variety. 

The  problem  of  technical  grammar 

To  what  extent  shall  technical  grammar  be 
called  to  our  aid  in  teaching  language  ? 

In  the  primary  grades  the  child  is  entirely  en- 
gaged with  the  art,  the  using.  There  should  be 
no  thought  of  forcing  upon  him  even  the  terms 
of  the  science.  As  his  power  increases  and  his 
study  of  language  naturally  and  gradually  deep- 
ens, he  begins  to  appreciate  a  sentence  as  a 
82 


HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT  FORMS 

thought  unit ;  he  advances  to  the  study  of  the 
larger  elements  of  this  thought  unit ;  and  by  the 
time  he  reaches  the  fifth  or  sixth  grade  he  is 
ready  to  use  intelligently  the  terms  "subject" 
and  "  predicate."  Similarly,  his  study  of  words  is 
gradually  giving  him  greater  understanding  of 
their  various  uses,  and  he  begins  to  group  them 
according  to  their  uses  in  the  sentence.  When 
he  understands  that  for  which  a  term  stands,  he 
should  use  the  term  as  naturally  as  he  names  the 
parts  of  a  flower  when  he  is  familiar  with  those 
parts  as  special  organs  of  the  flower.  There  seems 
to  be  no  halfway  place  for  the  home-made,  make- 
shift word  to  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the  ac- 
cepted term.  For  example,  when  the  pupil  has 
grouped  the  words  used  "  to  name,"  why  belittle 
him  by  giving  him  a  made-up  word,  while  we  re- 
serve the  word  "  noun  "  for  the  next  grade  ?  By 
the  end  of  the  fifth  or  the  sixth  grade,  he  should 
have  grown  to  use  intelligently  the  names  of  the 
parts  of  speech,  as  he  uses  any  other  words  that 
have  grown  into  his  vocabulary  in  the  natural 
way,  —  by  use  as  needed  to  express  ideas. 

But  these  terms  are  not  taught  as  elements  of 
the  science,  the  logic,  of  grammar.  They  have, 
rather,  as  his  thinking  and  knowledge  grew,  been 
given  to  supply  a  needed,  exact  vocabulary.  By 
means  of  its  use  he  can  much  more  clearly,  sim- 
ply, and  directly  state  the  principal  rules  and 

83 


(LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

directions  governing  the  use  of  language  forms  ; 
and  here,  as  everywhere  else,  clearer  expression 
helps  to  clear  the  thought.  Though  the  founda- 
tion is  thus  laid  for  the  study  of  grammar,  it  is 
not  at  this  time  for  the  sake  of  grammar ;  it  is 
for  the  sake  of  its  contribution  to  language  power. 
When,  by  this  gradual  growth,  —  in  thought, 
in  vocabulary,  and  in  appreciation  of  some  of  the 
underlying  principles,  —  the  time  arrives  for  sys- 
tematic study  of  the  structure  of  the  language 
the  study  of  English  naturally  divides  into  two 
lines :  grammar,  which  is  followed  by  the  study 
of  logic  and  other  related  subjects ;  and  literature 
and  composition,  which  are  to  be  a  lifelong  study 
and  delight.  But  the  analysis  of  thought  required 
by  an  understanding  of  grammar  as  an  organized 
body  of  principles  is  difficult  for  the  immature 
and  untrained  mind.  This  branch  of  study  should 
under  no  circumstances  be  attempted  before  the 
seventh  grade ;  and,  in  the  grades,  only  the  es- 
sential elements  of  the  science  can  be  studied 
with  profit. 


VI 

THE  USE  OF  TEXTBOOKS 

The  functions  of  teacher  and  text 

A  SYSTEMATIC,  progressive  course  in  English, 
from  the  kindergarten  to  and  through  the  high 
school  course,  evidently  demands  the  careful  se- 
lection, collection,  preparation,  and  arrangement 
of  material,  and  the  careful  planning  of  exercises, 
that  involve  years  of  study  and  of  time.  It  im- 
plies a  series  of  textbooks  embodying  the  results 
of  these  years  of  experience.  But  with  the  best 
available  series  of  books,  much  which  only  he 
can  do  remains  to  be  done  by  each  individual 
teacher.  The  books  should  suggest,  inspire,  give 
practical  help,  supply  much  material,  and  provide 
a  consistently  progressive  plan  of  work ;  but  there 
always  remains  as  the  essential,  the  teacher's  in- 
dividual initiative  and  personal  ability. 

Oral  teaching  in  the  first  three  grades 

Experience  in  all  grades,  both  with  and  with- 
out textbooks,  has  led  to  certain  definite  opinions 
regarding  the  use  of  textbooks  by  the  pupils.  It 
seems  clear  that  during  the  first  three  years  of 
school  life  the  teacher  is  the  best  medium  for 

85 


LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

presenting  what  is  to  be  taught.  Here,  then,  the 
teaching  should  be  largely  oral,  and  a  formal 
textbook  in  the  hands  of  the  pupil  may  do  more 
harm  than  good.  The  reading  books  should  fur- 
nish much  good  material,  and  this  may  be  sup- 
plemented by  the  use  of  pictures,  blackboard,  and 
chart. 

The  need  of  a  text  in  intermediate  and  higher 
grades 

But  in  the  intermediate  and  higher  grades, 
assuming  that  the  teachers  have  the  requisite 
knowledge  and  experience,  they  have  not  the 
time  to  get  and  prepare  the  larger  amount  of 
material  required;  nor  should  it  be  necessary  for 
them  to  write  so  many  lessons  on  the  blackboard. 
Moreover,  much  of  the  best  material  is  not  at 
hand.  Again,  the  pupil  who  has  entered  the  fourth 
grade  has  reached  the  age  when  he  should  think 
from  the  printed  page;  when  he  should  be  held 
responsible  for  different  lessons,  to  be  thought 
out  by  and  of  himself.  It  is  especially  important 
in  this  study  that  he  absorb  much  by  reading 
and  re-reading  to  himself.  It  is  the  almost  uni- 
versal experience  that  when  language  work  is 
attempted  beyond  the  third  or  the  fourth  grade 
without  books  in  the  hands  of  the  children,  it 
tends  to  degenerate  into  a  series  of  unrelated 
and  more  or  less  mechanical  exercises. 


OUTLINE 

I.  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

1.  Language  as  communicated  thought     ....  I 

2.  Language  as  self-expression I 

3.  Two  requisite  conditions 2 

4.  The  place  of  ideal  wants 3 

5.  Two  fundamental  principles  of  art 4 

II.  THE  USE  OF  LITERATURE  AS  THE  BASIS 

OF  LANGUAGE  TEACHING 

1.  Two  standards  for  literarv  materials  used     .    .  5 

2.  Its  use  to  interpret  the  child's  experience     .    .  5 

3.  The  influence  on  vocabulary  and  phraseology  .  7 

4.  The   essential   characteristics   of   stories   and 

poems  used 8 

5.  The  need  of  a  large  conception  of  language 

teaching 9 

6.  The  selection  and  use  of  ideals  found  in  litera- 

ture .^ ii 

7.  Some  grievous  sins  committed  against  children  14 

8.  The  oral  uses  of  literature 19 

9.  Respect  for  individuality 22 

10.  The  importance  of  interest 22 

11.  Recognition  of  unity  in  all  language  lessons     .  22 

HI.  SOME  PRACTICAL  SUGGESTIONS  IN  THE 
USE    OF  LITERATURE    FOR    LANGUAGE 
TRAINING 

1.  Reading  the  poem  or  story 25 

2.  Presenting  it  as  a  whole 26 

3.  Asking  preliminary  questions 26 

4.  Explaining  comparisons  and  allusions      ...  27 

5.  Humanizing  descriptive  poems 28 

Providing  abundant  means  for  self-expression     29 


7.  Using  a  piece  of  literature  for  self-criticism  . 

8.  Three  illustrative  uses  of  literature  .... 

a.  Stevenson's  "  The  Land  of  Counterpane ' 


b.  Longfellow's 

c.  Lanier's  "  Sc 


14  The  Children's  Hour  " 


Song  of  the  Chattahoochee  " 
87 


33 
34 
34 
37 
42 


OUTLINE 

IV.  THE  GROUP  PLAN  OF  COOPERATIVE 
LESSONS 

1.  Each  lesson  is  an  epitome  of  previous  experi- 

ence   49 

2.  The  literary  selection  as  the  basis  of  a  group  of 

cooperative  lessons 50 

a.  First  step :  selecting  an  interesting  theme  5 1 

b.  Second  step  :  using  the  literary  embodiment 

of  the  theme 52 

c.  Third  step :  criticizing  the  prevailing  faults  54 

3.  Illustrative  groups  of  cooperative  lessons      .     .  55 

a.  Nature  themes 55 

b.  Historical  themes 58 

c.  Geographical  themes 59 

d.  Mythological  themes .  61 

4.  Three  important  suggestions 64 

V.  TRAINING  TO  HABITUAL  USE  OF  CORRECT 
FORMS 

1.  The  need  of  skill  in  using  the  medium  of  com- 

munication      67 

2.  Mastery  of  form  implies  habitual  use  of  speech 

forms 69 

3.  Good  English  is  born  of  familiarity     .    .    .    .71 

4.  Special  obstacles  necessitate  definite  habit-form- 

ing exercises 72 

5.  The  habit  of  correct  usage  should  be  an  increas- 

ingly intelligent  usage 73 

6.  The  futility  of  reliance  on  rules  of  grammar     .  75 

7.  The  restoration  of  an  old-fashioned  treatment 

of  language  teaching 75 

8.  Eight  practical  suggestions 76 

9.  The  problem  of  technical  grammar      ....  82 

VI.  THE  USE  OF  TEXTBOOKS 

1.  The  functions  of  teacher  and  text 85 

2.  Oral  teaching  in  the  first  three  grades      ...  85 

3.  The  need  of  a  text  in  intermediate  and  higher 

grades 86 


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